Russian bombings intensify despite promises to reduce operations in Ukraine

Although Russia announced that it would “drastically reduce” its military operations in Ukraine on Tuesday, Russian bombs hit civilian targets on the outskirts of Kyiv and a besieged city in northern Ukraine on Wednesday.

After meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Istanbul on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters that Moscow has achieved its military objectives and is now prepared to begin scaling back aggressions.

"In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions," Fomin said.

The Russian diplomat added that the ongoing discussions regarding the "neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine" had contributed to the decision.

U.S. officials, on the other hand, warned that the Kremlin’s announcement could be a ploy to allow Russian forces to regroup and replenish faltering supply lines.

Reporters on the ground on Wednesday said they heard intensified bombardment from the direction of the capital’s frontline suburbs. Although Kyiv was not hit in the night-time bombing raid, windows rattled from “the relentless artillery on its outskirts,” Reuters reported.

According to Chernihiv’s Mayor Vladyslav Astroshenko, more than 100,000 people were trapped in the city and warned that provisions were only likely to last another week.

"This is yet another confirmation that Russia always lies," he told CNN in an interview. "They actually have increased the intensity of strikes," with "a colossal mortar attack in the center of Chernihiv" on Wednesday wounding 25 civilians.