Ukraine: Chernihiv governor says shelling continues despite Russian pullback promise — live updates

The leader of Ukraine’s northern region of Chernihiv has said that Russian attacks continued throughout the night, despite vows from the Kremlin that it was going to reduce military activity in the area.

Governor Viacheslav Chaus posted a video message online saying that civilian targets had been destroyed, including libraries and shopping centers.

Of Russia's statement that it would decrease its military activity, he said: "Do we believe that? Of course not."

"The 'decreased activity' in the Chernihiv region was demonstrated by the enemy carrying out strikes on (the city of) Nizhyn, including air strikes, and all night long they hit (the city of) Chernihiv."

At the same time, the governor of the Khmelnytskyi region in the west of Ukraine said Russian forces had hit industrial facilities in the region in three strikes overnight.

German Economy Minister raises warning level for gas supplies

Robert Habeck, economy minister and vice-chancellor, has triggered the early warning level for gas supplies as Moscow continues to demand to be paid in rubles.

This move is the first of three warning levels, and it entails the creation of a crisis team in his office to deal with the tense situation of gas supply. Germany’s gas storage is currently filled to about 25% capacity, Habeck said.

"There are currently no supply shortages," he explained. "Nevertheless, we must increase precautionary measures in order to be prepared in the event of an of an escalation on the part of Russia." 

Habeck called on businesses and individuals to try and reduce their energy consumption as much as possible.

US astronaut to return to Earth aboard Russian Soyuz

A US astronaut is set to return to Earth today aboard a Russian spacecraft.

US astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov are due to leave the International Space Station (ISS) in a Russian Soyuz space capsule at 0721 GMT. They are scheduled to land in central Kazakhstan at 1128 GMT.

Speculation that Vande Hei might not return to Earth on the Soyuz spacecraft due to tensions over the war in Ukraine have been denied by both the United States and Russia.

Vande Hei and Dubrov arrived at the ISS on April 9, 2021. Vande Hei broke Scott Kelly's record for the longest stay in space by a US astronaut at 341 consecutive days.

US State Department warns against travel to Russia

The US State Department issued a travel advisory on Tuesday that reiterated warnings against traveling to Russia.

The advisory warned that Russia "may single out and detain US citizens in Russia." It called for Americans in Russia to leave "immediately."

The statement warned Americans not to travel "due to the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces" and "the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials."

The advisory added that the US embassy "has severe limitations on its ability to assist U.S. citizens" in Russia, and that changing conditions may impose further limitations in the future.

Ukraine's UN ambassador: 'demilitarization' of Russia under way

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsa told the UN Security Council that the "demilitarization of Russia is well under way."

Kyslytsa said Russia has lost more than 17,000 military personnel, over 1,700 armored vehicles and almost 600 tanks. It has also lost 300 artillery systems, 127 planes and 129 helicopters, almost 100 rocket launcher systems, 54 air defense systems and seven ships, according to Kyslytsa.

Kyslytsa called this "an unprecedented blow to Moscow, where the numbers of Soviet losses in Afghanistan pale in comparison.''

The "demilitarization" of Ukraine was one of Moscow's initial war aims when announcing the invasion, alongside "de-Nazification." Russia maintains that it has been targeting military infrastructure during what it calls a "special operation."

Ukrainian military distrusts Russian withdrawal

Ukrainian military officials expressed skepticism over Russia's announcement it would draw down military activities around Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Russia made the announcement on Tuesday after talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Turkey.

"There are indications that the Russian forces are regrouping to focus their efforts on eastern Ukraine," Ukraine's general staff said in a statement.

"At the same time, the so-called 'withdrawal of troops' is most likely a rotation of individual units and is aimed at misleading the Ukrainian military leadership.''

Death toll from strike in Mykolaiv rises to 12

Ukrainian authorities updated the death toll from the Russian strike on the regional government's building in Mykolaiv to 12.

Authorities had previously reported 7 deaths from Tuesday's strike. At least 22 people have been wounded.

Ukrainian official Mykola Ponasenko said that 12 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the regional administration headquarters in Mykolaiv. Ponasenko said the search for more bodies was continuing.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy notes positive signals in talks with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that talks with Russian negotiators had given some positive signals. At the same time, he was wary of Russian claims that it was scaling back its offensive, as Russian forces remain on Ukrainian soil.

"The enemy is still on our territory," Zelenskyy said.

Russia announced after Tuesday's talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Turkey that it would significantly reduce military operations near Kyiv and the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.

Ukraine's president said that the "courageous and effective actions" of Ukrainian troops had forced Russia to reduce its operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Zelenskyy said that negotiations will continue as far as Ukraine is concerned, but said that he did not trust "words coming from representatives of the country that continues fighting to destroy us." He added that Ukraine's negotiators won't compromise on the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the country.

UN food chief warns of food "catastrophe"

The UN food chief warned on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine was threatening to devastate the World Food Program's (WFP) efforts to feed some 125 million people globally.

"It's not just decimating dynamically Ukraine and the region, but it will have global context impact beyond anything we've seen since World War Two," WFP Executive Director David Beasley said, adding that Ukraine had gone "from the breadbasket of the world to breadlines."

Beasley said that 50% of grain bought by the WFP comes by Ukraine.

"The farmers are on the frontlines," he said, calling the humanitarian crisis born out of the crisis "catastrophe on top of castatrophe."

Beasley said that the crisis could worsen as fertilizer products from Belarus and Russia stop arriving in Ukraine.

"If you don't put fertilizer on the crops, your yield will be at least 50% diminished. So we're looking at what could be a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe in the months ahead," Beasley said.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blamed Western sanctions on Russia for the disruption of the global food market.

Summary of events in Ukraine-Russia crisis on Tuesday

US Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby announced that the country's armed forces were moving fighter jets, transport planes and 400 soldiers to Eastern Europe.

Donetsk Russian-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin said that the region will consider joining Russia.

Russia pledged to reduce its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv in light of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that this constituted de-escalation of the conflict but did not amount to a cease-fire.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken questioned the seriousness of Russia's claims of progress at the Ukraine-Russia talks in Turkey on Tuesday.

The Pentagon later noted that some Russian troops were leaving the Kyiv region. US Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said that this was a "repositioning" of Russian forces, and not a true withdrawal.

Poland approved a law to ban imports of Russian coal.

Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine including the "indiscriminate or deliberate targeting of civilians."