Russian forces widen attacks on Ukraine to include more cities

State of play: The barrage on Kharkiv continued Friday. Kharkiv's mayor told Reuters "48 schools have been destroyed" in the city as of Friday. The Ukrainian government said Russia's military had struck the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology for the second time in less than a week.

• In Kyiv, air raid sirens blared across the capital on Friday morning.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised address Thursday that Russian forces had "destroyed the building of the main department of the State Emergency Service in the Donetsk" region.
• "Right next to this building was the place where Mariupol residents were to gather for evacuation," Zelensky added. "This is outright terror. Blatant terror. From experienced terrorists."

Meanwhile, civilians were prevented from leaving the besieged port city of Mariupol and also Volnovakha, in the Donetsk region of southeastern Ukraine, because "Russian troops did not cease fire," according to Zelensky.

Between the lines: The U.K. Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update Friday that Russian forces continued to make little progress in the face of Ukrainian resistance and "logistical issues."

• "Russia is likely seeking to reset and re-posture its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days," the Defense Ministry said.
• "This will probably include operations against the capital Kyiv."

Go deeper:

• The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis
• Axios explains Ukraine