A senior US defence official has just given a briefing from Warsaw, where President Joe Biden has been speaking to American troops stationed in Poland.

As we reported earlier, the official - who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity - argued that Ukrainian forces could retake Kherson, the southern city captured by Russia in the first days of the war.

Here are some other key points:

• Russia has conducted 1,250 missile launches in the first 30 days of the war
• Russia has increased its aerial sorties in recent weeks, now flying an average of 300 per day
• US officials confirm Ukraine's claim that it destroyed a ship transporting Russian tanks in the occupied port city of Berdyansk
• Troops around Kyiv are digging in, and do not appear to be preparing for a ground assault on the capital
• Makariv, a suburb west of Kyiv, is also now heavily contested by both sides
• Russian troops are making no progress in their attacks on Kharkiv, in the north
• Russian troops are stationed around 15km outside of Mykolaiv, a city near Kherson, and are trying to close the city off to resupply from Ukraine
• Putin's troops managed to break through a Ukrainian defence near Izyum, and have moved south towards the Donbas territory

BBC