Ukraine crisis: Russia bombards areas where it pledged to scale back

Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday said that Russian forces bombarded areas around Kyiv and another city just hours after pledging to scale back operations in those zones to promote trust between the two sides.

The shelling — and intensified Russian attacks on other parts of the country — tempered optimism about any progress in the talks aimed at ending the punishing war.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he stressed in a conversation with US President Joe Biden that the war is at a “turning point” and renewed his longstanding request for more help to resist the Russian invasion.

“If we really are fighting for freedom and in defense of democracy together, then we have a right to demand help in this difficult turning point. Tanks, aircraft, artillery systems. Freedom should be armed no worse than tyranny,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation, which he delivered standing in the dark outside the dimly lit presidential offices in Kyiv.

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He thanked the US for an additional $500 million in aid that was announced Wednesday.

Meanwhile, talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume Friday by video, according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia. But there seemed to be little faith that a resolution would emerge anytime soon.

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The Russian military reneged on its pledge Tuesday to de-escalate near the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv in order to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”

The announcement was met with deep suspicion from Zelenskyy and the West. And soon after, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian shelling hit homes, stores, libraries and other civilian sites in and around Chernihiv and on the outskirts of Kyiv.

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Russian troops also stepped up their attacks on the Donbas region in the east and around the city of Izyum, which lies on a key route to the Donbas, after redeploying units from other areas, the Ukrainian side said.

Olexander Lomako, secretary of the Chernihiv city council, said the Russian announcement turned out to be “a complete lie.”

“At night they didn’t decrease, but vice versa increased the intensity of military action,” Lomako said.

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Five weeks into the invasion that has left thousands dead on both sides, the number of Ukrainians fleeing the country topped a staggering 4 million, half of them children, according to the United Nations.