Local officials say Russian forces blasted areas around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city overnight, only hours after Moscow promised to reduce military activities in such areas. The shelling dampened hopes for progress in peace talks aimed at ending the grueling conflict.
While the statement initially generated expectations that a route toward ending the terrible battle of attrition was on the horizon, Ukraine’s president and others cautioned that the vows could simply be bluster.
Meanwhile, Moscow reacted coolly to Kyiv’s proposed framework for a peace deal on Wednesday, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was a “good factor” that Ukraine had submitted written suggestions but adding that he was still waiting for more details.
Heavy losses have forced some Russian forces to retreat to Belarus and regroup, according to the British Defense Ministry, but Moscow will likely compensate for any slowdown in ground maneuvers by utilizing huge artillery and missile barrages. Over the last 24 hours, the Russian military has reported a new wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian arsenals and fuel depots.
As Moscow’s five-week-old war raged on, the ramifications spread far beyond Ukraine’s borders. According to the United Nations, the number of refugees fleeing Syria has topped 4 million, and Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, has issued a warning about its natural gas supply, fearing that Russia may cut off exports unless it is paid in rubles.
In his nightly video address to the Ukrainian people, he remarked, “We may call those indications that we receive during the negotiations positive.” “However, the indications do not prevent Russian shells from exploding.”
By Wednesday morning, that pessimism appeared to be well-founded.
“The so-called diminution of activity in the Chernihiv region was proved by enemy strikes, including air raids on Nizhyn, and they shelled Chernihiv all night long,” claimed Viacheslav Chaus, the regional governor. “In Chernihiv, civil infrastructure facilities, libraries, commercial centers, and many homes were destroyed.”
Russian shelling targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the Bucha, Brovary, and Vyshhorod regions of Kyiv, according to Oleksandr Pavliuk, the chief of the Kyiv region military administration.
Moscow’s strikes were not the only ones.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, claimed on Wednesday that the military used air-launched long-range cruise missiles to attack gasoline stores in two towns in central Ukraine. He further claimed that Russian forces struck a Ukrainian Special Forces headquarters in the southern Mykolaiv area and two weapons stores in the eastern Donetsk region.
Donetsk is located in Donbas’ eastern industrial heartland, where Russia’s military claims to have moved its attention. Top Russian military officials have stated twice in recent days that the “liberation” of Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Some commentators believe the Kremlin’s apparent lowering of its goals and commitment to minimize activity near Kyiv and Chernihiv only reflects the reality on the ground: its field soldiers have become stymied and have suffered terrible losses in their attempt to conquer the capital and other cities.
Despite this, the elements of a prospective peace deal emerged at the latest round of talks in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s team presented a detailed framework for a peace agreement in which a group of third nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, China, and Poland, would guarantee the security of a neutral Ukraine. The Kremlin has demanded, among other things, that Ukraine abandon all hopes of joining NATO.
Russian delegation chairman Vladimir Medinsky stated that negotiators would present them to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would subsequently respond, but he did not specify when.
In the meantime, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin stated Moscow will “fundamentally” reduce military action in the area of Kyiv and Chernihiv in order to “build mutual trust and create circumstances for further dialogue.”
The negotiations were supposed to resume on Wednesday, but the two parties opted to return home for consultations after making “substantial” progress, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Despite the apparent indicators of improvement, Zelensky cautioned the world and his own people not to get too excited.
“Ukrainians are not naive,” he asserted. “Ukrainians have already learned that only concrete outcomes can be trusted after 34 days of invasion and eight years of conflict in the Donbas.”
Russia’s motives have also been questioned by Western countries.
On Wednesday, British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News that “we assess the Russian military machine by its actions, not just its statements.” “There’s clearly considerable suspicion that it’ll regroup and attack again rather than engage in meaningful dialogue.”
“Of course, the door to diplomacy will always be left ajar,” he continued, “but I don’t think you can trust what comes out of Putin’s military machine.”
Russia’s concentration on the Donbas region “is likely a tacit admission that it is failing to sustain more than one important axis of expansion,” according to a British Ministry of Defense assessment.
“Russian units that have suffered significant losses have been obliged to return to Belarus and Russia to regroup and restock,” the ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday. “Such activity adds to Russia’s already strained logistics and indicates the problems Russia is facing reorganizing its soldiers in Ukraine’s front areas.”
Small numbers of Russian ground forces have been spotted moving away from the Kyiv area, according to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, but it appears to be a repositioning of forces, not a true withdrawal.
In response to Moscow’s vow, US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that they will wait and see what Russia does.
Russian signs of a retreat, according to Blinken, could be an attempt to “deceive people and redirect attention.”
This isn’t the first time it’s happened. The Russian military claimed during the tense buildup to the invasion that some units were loading equipment onto train carriages and preparing to return to their home sites after completing drills. Putin expressed an interest in diplomacy at the time. However, Russia launched an invasion ten days later.
Moscow is reportedly beefing up its troops in the Donbas in an attempt to encircle Ukraine’s forces there, according to Western diplomats. In the south, Russia’s brutal siege continues, trapping residents in the wreckage of Mariupol and other damaged cities. Hundreds of people were seen waiting outside a grocery store in besieged Mariupol, according to the newest satellite footage from Maxar Technologies, amid concerns of food and water shortages.
Even while negotiators assembled on Tuesday, Putin’s forces struck the southern port city of Mykolaiv, destroying a nine-story government office building and killing at least 14 people, according to emergency officials.
“It’s a disaster. Before assaulting the building they “waited for people to go to work” according to regional governor Vitaliy Kim. “I slept in too late.”I’m fortunate.”
