Russia said on Tuesday it would cut back operations around Chernihiv and the capital, Kyiv, in an effort to “boost mutual trust” in peace talks.

But the Chernihiv region’s governor told the BBC attacks had in fact continued overnight into Wednesday.

Ukraine also said there has been no mass removal of troops.

Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s armed forces, said that though there had been a partial movement of troops from the directions of Kyiv and Chernihiv, they had yet to fully abandon attempts to seize, or at least surround these cities.

On Tuesday Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said his country would “radically, by several times reduce the military activity” in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.

The UN’s Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, meanwhile, said Russia’s allegedly indiscriminate attacks on populated areas of Ukraine “may amount to war crimes”.

Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, she said there were credible allegations that Russia had used cluster munitions in populated areas on multiple occasions. Such weapons are widely banned by an international treaty, but neither Russia nor Ukraine are signed up to it.

In Chernihiv and the surrounding area, “the entire night was pretty tense”, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus told the BBC.

“They attacked Nizhyn and Chernihiv. Mostly Chernihiv. Again, part of the civilian infrastructure was destroyed.”

“Chernihiv still has no electricity, water supply and heat. It won’t be easy to restore this infrastructure. None of the military buildings were targeted last night. They kept attacking only civilian infrastructure,” the governor said.

“This night was rough,” one resident told the BBC. “We heard there was fighting all night in the suburbs, away from the city centre. We heard artillery. But there was no aviation tonight.”

Another resident said shelling was continuing on Wednesday, although not as intensely as overnight.

Chernihiv’s mayor told CNN Russian attacks on the city had intensified, and that 25 civilians had been wounded during attacks on Wednesday.

Air raid sirens also sounded in Kyiv just a few hours after the announcement that troops would be reduced around the city.

Kyiv’s deputy mayor, Mykola Povoroznyk, said the capital itself had not been shelled overnight, however gunfire had been heard from battles around the city.

The decision comes as Ukrainian forces made advances in recent days, retaking areas from Russian forces.

In Irpin, near Kyiv, the mayor said Ukrainian forces had retaken control of the town on Monday, and around 200 to 300 civilians had died in the town before it was retaken.

Developments on the ground come as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators made no “breakthroughs” in Tuesday’s peace talks, the Kremlin said.

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv held three hours of discussions in Istanbul on Tuesday aimed at bringing to a close more than a month of fighting in Ukraine.

Ukraine said it had proposed to become a neutral state in exchange for security guarantees. A key aim of Russia’s invasion was to stop Ukraine joining the Nato alliance and Russian officials said the talks had moved to a practical stage.

Russia’s pledge to cut back military activity was met with scepticism. “Ukrainians are not naïve people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an overnight video address.

Mr Zelensky said that initial signs from the peace talks were “positive”, but added that they did not “drown out” the explosions of Russian shells.

Other countries also reacted with caution. US President Joe Biden said: “I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are.”

Leaders from UK, France, Germany and Italy also urged the West not to drop its guard against Russia.

In other developments:

What questions do you have about the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy.