Russian forces are continuing to hold their positions and carry out shelling strikes around Kyiv, according to British intelligence, despite promises from Moscow this week to scale back its military activity near the Ukrainian capital.
The head of the U.K.'s intelligence and security agency said in a speech Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has "massively misjudged" the situation in Ukraine, and that the Russian leader's advisors were afraid to tell him the truth about what was happening on the ground.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Thursday that Russia had agreed to allow a humanitarian corridor to open in the besieged city of Mariupol, which has been largely destroyed by Russian shelling and is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.