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Ukraine war: Shelling continues near capital Kyiv despite Russia’s scale-back talks
Regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media that Russian forces continued shelling Irpin and Makariv. Battles were also underway around Hostomel between forces of the two nations, Pavliuk said.
The Russian military continued to shell areas on the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital city of war-torn Ukraine, on Thursday, despite Moscow promising to scale back its forces in de-escalation talks two days ago. According to multiple reports, Russian forces fired on suburbs of Kyiv that Ukraine recently retook control of.
Regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media that Russian forces continued shelling Irpin and Makariv. Battles were also underway around Hostomel between forces of the two nations, Pavliuk said.
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Britain's defence ministry also reported "significant shelling and missile strikes" by Russia around Chernihiv, a historic city in the north of Ukraine and around 147.9km from Kyiv. According to the Associated Press (AP), Viacheslav Chaus, governor of Chernihiv, spoke about the presence of Russian troops in the area and said they "may not be withdrawing."
Ukrainian officials confirmed to the media about artillery barrages by Russian troops in and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv over the past day. Fighting raged in the besieged city of Mariupol, the AP reported.
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On Tuesday, the Kremlin said it would significantly scale back operations near both the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.” However, two days after the talks the fighting does not seem to be slowing down.
According to reports, it was an indication that the Kremlin might be using talk of de-escalation as a cover while regrouping and resupplying its forces and redeploying them for a stepped-up offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video that the country was seeing “a buildup of Russian forces for new strikes on the Donbas".
Talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume on Friday by video, according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia. The war that was in its sixth week was seeing thousands die, besides a staggering 4 million fleeing Ukraine.
But there seemed little faith that the two sides would resolve the conflict any time soon, particularly after the Russian military’s attacks on places where it had offered to dial back.
(With agency inputs)
