Chernihiv's Mayor: Russia's Promise Was Toothless

Mayor, governor report heavy attacks overnight, despite Russia's pledge to pull back
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2022 8:59 AM CDT
Chernihiv's Mayor: Russia's Promise Was Toothless
The city market is seen damaged by night shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 30, 2022. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces pounded areas around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city overnight. The attacks come hours after Moscow pledged to scale back military operations in those places.   (AP Photo/Vladislav Savenok)

Whatever promise Tuesday held on the Ukraine-Russia front seems to have been lost by Wednesday. The governor of Ukraine's Chernihiv region tells the BBC that Russia has not eased up on its attacks as it pledged to do. "The entire night was pretty tense," Viacheslav Chaus said. "They attacked Nizhyn and Chernihiv. Mostly Chernihiv. Again, part of the civilian infrastructure was destroyed. None of the military buildings were targeted last night. They kept attacking only civilian infrastructure."

The BBC notes it couldn't independently confirm his report, but it did hear echoes of what Chaus said from the residents it spoke with; one said planes weren't heard overnight, but the sounds of war were otherwise apparent. Chernihiv's mayor, Vladyslav Atroshenko, repeated a similar story to the Guardian: "The night was just as we expected, that [everything Russia promised] is a lie from the beginning till the end, that’s why at night we had some serious shelling at night."

The New York Times adds that strikes were also reported near Kyiv, suggesting Russia is in no rush to bring the 5-week-old conflict to an end. Meanwhile, a Kremlin rep on Wednesday said that talks in Turkey had thus far not produced anything "very promising." As for the situation in Mariupol, the BBC reports Vladimir Putin on Tuesday night said in a lengthy phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron that the shelling of the city won't cease until Ukrainian troops surrender. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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