Russia pounds Kyiv despite promising de-escalation in Ukraine

Russian bombs and bullets continued to pummel Kyiv and its suburbs Friday — days after Kremlin negotiators claimed Russian forces would pull back in the regions to “increase mutual trust.”

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, told Britain’s Sky News on Friday that he could hear the sounds of explosions “nonstop during the day and night.” 

The shells were falling on cities the Russians recently moved out of or had been taken back by Ukrainian ground forces, Klitschko said.

Heavy shelling was reported in Irpin, a northern suburb of the country’s capital of Kyiv that was recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces. Before to its capture by Russian forces, Irpin was shelled relentlessly early last month, with civilians bearing the brunt of the destruction.

The Ukrainian cities of Borodyanko and Hostomel were also being targeted by Russian strikes as Ukrainian troops forced back Russia’s occupations there, Klitschko said.

The mayor urged Ukrainians who had fled Kyiv to wait “a couple of weeks” before returning.

In Ukraine’s northeast, the major cities of Chernihiv and Kharkiv are also under continued bombardment, Ukrainian authorities said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continue to gain ground on the Russian occupiers. Kyiv said Friday that Bucha, a town just north of Irpin and south of Hostomel, had been retaken by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian forces have reportedly retaken 29 towns in total in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, where Russia has pulled back a small number of its troops.

With Post Wires