Kyiv (dpa-AFX) – According to Ukrainian information, the Russian military is concentrating its attacks on the eastern regions of Ukraine. There are air strikes on the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv and Chernihiv, said presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych on Ukrainian television on Saturday. In addition to the armament industry, residential areas are also affected. This could not be independently verified. Russia denies attacking civilian targets.
Arestovych said the “enemy” was trying to turn Chernihiv into a second Mariupol. The port city of Mariupol has been badly damaged in recent weeks. Chernihiv can still be reached by land. “The inhabitants can leave the city.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s adviser expects heavy fighting to continue in eastern Ukraine.
On the other hand, Russian soldiers were pushed towards the state border in the north and north-east, said Arestovych. Ukrainian troops recaptured more than 30 villages around Kyiv.
After talks with Ukraine, Russia pledged on Tuesday to significantly scale back its combat operations near Kyiv and Chernihiv. The head of the Sumy regional administration in north-eastern Ukraine, Dmytro Shyvytskyi, wrote in the Telegram news channel that Russian soldiers were transporting military equipment to Russia./cht/DP/nas