When Russian forces pledged to scale back they bombarded areas around Kyiv, Ukraine, and another city, said Ukrainian authorities on March 30.

After the shelling and escalating attacks from Russian troops in different locations of the country, this changed the optimism about the talk of progress to ending the punishing war.

In announcing a plan Tuesday to de-escalate near the capital and northern city of Chernihiv to “increase mutual trust,” Russia’s military did not spell out what it was planning, which left Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the west very suspicious.

Soon after, officials from Ukraine stated that the shells that were launched hit homes, stores, libraries and other civilian sites in Chernihiv and Kyiv. Russian troops also have stepped up their attacks around the eastern city of Izuyum and the eastern Donetsk region after redeploying troops from other areas.

According to the United Nations during these past five weeks into the invasion the staggering number of Ukrainians fleeing the country topped 4 million while the sanctions in the West and Moscow continued to widen.