Russia-Ukraine war: Russians flee to avoid draft as west says Putin faces ‘major challenges’ to recruit 300,000 – live

Western officials say true target could be higher but significant hurdles remain to mobilise stated target of 300,000

The British Ministry of Defence has giving its latest intelligence update on how it sees the situation on the ground in the war. It says that the battle situation remains complex" but that Ukraine is now putting pressure on territory that Russia considers essential to its war aims", with fighting along the Oskil River, and a Ukrainian assault on the town of Lyman, Donetsk, which Russia captured in May.

This is Martin Belam in London with the live blog now for the next few hours. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com