LIVE - Updated at 09:02
UK's Ministry of Defence says troop build-up could be in anticipation of Ukrainian counter-offensive or for a new assault.
Oksana Pokalchuk, the head of Amnesty International's office in Ukraine, has resigned from her role following a report published by the human rights organisation which accused the Ukrainian military of breaching international humanitarian law.
The report, which has been criticised by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as well as western diplomats, including the British and US ambassadors to Ukraine, accused the Ukrainian military of putting civilians at risk by positioning themselves in residential areas such as empty schools or civilian buildings, meaning Russia will target urban areas risking civilian lives in the crossfire.
Announcing her resignation via Facebook, Pokalchuk said she held meetings with Amnesty International to discuss what they were going to publish but said that her input was "deleted" and replaced with what the organisation published in its report on Thursday.
"If you don't live in a country invaded by invaders and are tearing it to pieces, you probably don't understand what it's like to condemn an army of defenders. And there are no words in any language that can convey this to someone who has not felt this pain," Pokalchuk said
The report has since been used by Kremlin-directed Russian media as a way to evidence their false claims that Russian forces are only going after military targets in Ukraine.
Despite ongoing criticism, Amnesty International said that while it condemned Russia's invasion, the report's findings were based on evidence gathered during extensive investigations and that it would report Ukrainian violations when it observed them.
Here are some of the latest images from photographers on the ground in Ukraine:
We've got more from the UK's MoD.
On what Ukraine's troops are focusing on, it adds:
Ukrainian forces are focusing their targeting on bridges, ammunition depots, and rail links with growing frequency in Ukraine's southern regions. Including the strategically important railroad spur that links Kherson to Russian-occupied Crimea, almost certainly using a combination of block, damage, degrade, deny, destroy, and disrupt effects to try to affect Russia's ability to logistically resupply.
Ukrainian forces are focusing their targeting on bridges, ammunition depots, and rail links with growing frequency in Ukraine's southern regions.
Including the strategically important railroad spur that links Kherson to Russian-occupied Crimea, almost certainly using a combination of block, damage, degrade, deny, destroy, and disrupt effects to try to affect Russia's ability to logistically resupply.
The MoD then adds it believes the war is about to enter a "new phase".
Russia's war on Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, with the heaviest fighting shifting to a roughly 350km frontline stretching south-west from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, paralleling the Dnieper River.
As we just mentioned, the UK's Ministry of Defence has revealed there is a significant build-up of Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
However, the MoD said it was unclear whether these additional forces were for a new assault on Ukrainian territory or in anticipation for a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
It reported:
Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, towed artillery, and other weapons continue to move away from Ukraine's Donbas region and are headed south-west. Equipment was also reported to be moving from Russian-occupied Melitopol, Berdiansk, Mariupol and from mainland Russia via the Kerch Bridge into Crimea. Battalion tactical groups (BTG), which comprise between 800 and 1,000 troops, have been deployed to Crimea and would almost certainly be used to support Russian troops in the Kherson region. On 02 August 2022, a new BTG had been deployed to Crimea and BTGs are also being re-deployed from Eastern Grouping of Forces. These will highly likely be sent into the Kherson region in the coming days.
Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, towed artillery, and other weapons continue to move away from Ukraine's Donbas region and are headed south-west.
Equipment was also reported to be moving from Russian-occupied Melitopol, Berdiansk, Mariupol and from mainland Russia via the Kerch Bridge into Crimea.
Battalion tactical groups (BTG), which comprise between 800 and 1,000 troops, have been deployed to Crimea and would almost certainly be used to support Russian troops in the Kherson region.
On 02 August 2022, a new BTG had been deployed to Crimea and BTGs are also being re-deployed from Eastern Grouping of Forces. These will highly likely be sent into the Kherson region in the coming days.
Good morning, it's approaching 8.30am in London and 9.30am in Kyiv. Here's a summary of the latest developments in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.