Cities say attacks persist despite vow; U.S. official says Putin feels misled by military

 Chernihiv’s governor said Russian forces “spent the whole night striking.” Separately, in Mariupol, new satellite images of the hard-hit southern port city in part reveal the scope of the destruction: long lines outside a grocery store amid concerns about basic supply shortages, as well as severe damage to civilian infrastructure. In a Wednesday call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Biden said the United States would provide the Ukrainian government $500 million in direct aid.

Meanwhile, a U.S. official described tension between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military. The official said Putin is “being misinformed” by advisers about Russia’s military performance in Ukraine and the impact of sanctions on the economy because advisers are “too afraid to tell him the truth.”

The assessment came as Russian officials sent mixed messages on talks in Turkey that stirred optimism a day earlier. The Kremlin’s spokesman said that talks had not produced anything “very promising,” while the nation’s chief negotiator expressed willingness to work on an agreement. A high-ranking official for Zelensky, however, said the talks “definitely moved the negotiations forward.”