Shelling ‘all night” casts doubt on Russian vow to de-escalate in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of shelling Chernigiv in northern Ukraine despite promising to scale back military activity around the city and the capital Kyiv after more than a month of war.

Ukraine and Western powers have cast doubt on Russia’s pledge, made during face-to-face talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Tuesday.

“The enemy has demonstrated its ‘decrease in activity’ in the Chernigiv region with strikes on Nizhyn, including air strikes,” regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus wrote on social media.

“Chernigiv was shelled all night,” he said.

AFP reporters on Wednesday could also hear frequent explosions coming from the direction of the suburban town of Irpin to the northwest of Kyiv.

Ukrainian forces have said they are in control of the town but emergency services said it was still too dangerous for civilians to access.

“The area might be within mortar range so it is still dangerous,” said Petro Kyseliov, acting head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Russian officials had pledged to “radically” reduce attacks because of progress in negotiations on “the neutrality and non-nuclear status” of Ukraine—two central concer