Two days after a "partial" Russian withdrawal from them, a different picture in Kyiv and Chernihiv

Ukraine

- As soon as the Istanbul round of negotiations ended on Tuesday, March 29, and the Russian side announced "reducing its military operations in the Kiev and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine", there was hope for an agreement that would pave the way for an end to the war, starting in these two regions.

Hope was reinforced by a relative decrease in the intensity of the battles and bombardments, and the Kyiv municipality's announcement that "the city was not bombed" during the night hours after the negotiations, and then by the announcement of the Ukrainian forces' "partial withdrawal" of the Russian forces from the vicinity of Kyiv and Chernihiv.

In the alert city, for which everyone was waiting for its "decisive battle", some cafes, restaurants and shops returned to open their doors, and the city administration decided to resume the study process remotely, and to reduce the curfew period for two hours.

All this prompted many displaced Kyiv residents to think of packing and returning, and even Slovenia - it seems - to announce the return of its embassy in the city, and to invite other embassies to follow in its footsteps.

Regarding the atmosphere inside the city, Serhiy, a resident of the western suburbs of the capital, said, "Life of civilians is slowly returning to normal. Everything is working, except for barber shops and other less important stores. Goods and foodstuffs are available in stores today, and some gas stations have returned to Partially working.

He continued, "People are generally optimistic, and they express this by preparing bread at home, and distributing it to the public, neighborhood guards, and "regional defense" fighters;

Caution, of course, continues.

Renewed fears and lack of confidence

But Wednesday presented a different picture, albeit not as it was during the days before the Istanbul negotiations, when food depots were bombed on the outskirts of Kyiv, and apartment buildings and infrastructure in Chernihiv, according to local authorities.

Sirens sounded several times during the day in those two regions, and the sounds of clashes were heard in the northeastern and northwestern suburbs of Kyiv, which include cities “occupied” by Russia and “liberated” by Ukraine before the negotiations, and during the days of the war that has continued since February 24.

Commenting on these developments, Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, questioned the credibility of Russia's declaration, and considered that "Putin can only be stopped by inflicting a severe military defeat on his army, as did the Stalingrad battles with the Wehrmacht and Hitler."

In the same context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he did not trust Russia, and did not believe "any beautiful sentence" issued by it, adding that "the real situation is what the battlefield is witnessing."

No relaxation in front of Putin's "maneuvers"

In light of the above, Ukrainian and Western calls are being launched, calling for not to relax, and for more military support to Ukraine;

It also expects what may be worse for Kyiv and Chernihiv, in the context of what they describe as "maneuvers carried out by the Kremlin regime."

Anton Hirashenko believes that "Putin is maneuvering in negotiations, to focus his forces' efforts - currently - on encircling and destroying the entire Ukrainian forces in the Donbass region in the southeast of the country."

"After that, he will push all his forces to besiege Kyiv and Kharkiv, to starve them under massive missile strikes, possibly in partnership with Belarusian President Lukashenko this time," he added, in a post on Twitter.

He also said, "We need not only the withdrawal of the Russian army forces, but the complete elimination of the threat posed by Russia. Putin will not retreat; only strong Ukrainian forces can stop him, that's why we need more heavy weapons, from the United States and NATO Atlantic".

He stressed that "the partial withdrawal of the Russians outside Kyiv and the Chernihiv region is not a reason to relax, as many see, because the war is in full swing. The withdrawal will not excuse Putin from the Ukrainians humiliating him, as a lying killer," he said.