The Governor of Ukraine’s Chernihiv has said there is no let-up in attacks by Russia, despite the country’s pledge to reduce military activity in the region.
The Governor, Viacheslav Chaus, in an interview with reporters disclosed that he did not believe the promise made by Russia in the Peace Talk on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
“We’ve already seen that there wasn’t even a single time when their military forces kept their word.”
Governor of Ukraine’s Chernihiv, Viacheslav Chaus
Mr. Chaus, also said that in Chernihiv and the surrounding area, “the entire night was pretty tense”.
“They attacked Nizhyn and Chernihiv; mostly Chernihiv. Again, part of the civilian infrastructure was destroyed. Chernihiv still has no electricity, water supply and heat. It won’t be easy to restore this infrastructure. None of the military buildings were targeted last night. They kept attacking only civilian infrastructure.”
Governor of Ukraine’s Chernihiv, Viacheslav Chaus
Although there is no evidence to prove the claims made by the Governor, residents of Chernihiv have also affirmed that the fighting continued.
“This night was rough,” one resident revealed. “We heard there was fighting all night in the suburbs, away from the city centre. We heard artillery. But there was no aviation tonight.” Another resident who gave his account said shelling is continued on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, although not as intense as the night before.
Tuesday Night after talks
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, Russia promised to cut back on its operations around Chernihiv as well as Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in an effort to “boost mutual trust” in the Peace Talks.
Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister, Alexander Fomin, assured the country would “radically, by several times reduce the military activity” in the two Regions (Chernihiv and Kyiv). However, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv hours after the Peace Talks. Kyiv’s Deputy Mayor, Mykola Povoroznyk, averred the capital itself was not shelled overnight, although gunfire was heard from battles around the city.
It can be recalled on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, that US and Ukrainian Officials forecasted that Russia was repositioning its forces away from Kyiv, probably as part of an effort to refocus on the Eastern Regions.
Excerpts from the Peace Talk
Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv held three hours of discussions in Istanbul on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, aimed at bringing an end to the more than a month of fighting in Ukraine. But according to the Kremlin, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators made no “breakthroughs” in Tuesday’s (March 29, 2022) Peace Talks. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “What is positive is that the Ukrainian side has at least started to specifically formulating and putting on paper what it is proposing. Until now we had not managed to achieve that”.
“As regards the rest, we cannot, put it this way, at present state, there have been any breakthroughs, anything very promising.”
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Russia’s pledge to cut back military activity is met with scepticism. “Ukrainians are not naïve people,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an overnight video address. Mr. Zelenskyy said that initial signs from the peace talks were “positive”, but added that they did not “drown out” the explosions of Russian shells.
Concerns by the West
Other countries also reacted with caution. US President Joe Biden said: “I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are.” Leaders from UK, France, Germany and Italy also urged the West not to drop its guard against Russia.
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