image copyrightEPA
The dangers in Sloviansk are evident from the beginning.
"If I tell you to run, you run," says Tetiana, who together with her colleague Yasha accompany us to a city that is now suffering from constant bombardment by Russian drones, missiles and gliding bombs.
It is raining and cloudy when we enter the city. However, our military escorts rate the weather as "fair weather," meaning it is bad for drones.
But the threat is still present. Yasha keeps her eyes peeled toward the sky, while Tetiana, 21, checks her phone for the latest military information on possible aerial threats.
Both are part of a drone unit, which calls themselves Peaky Blinders. Their distinctive emblem is a flat beret like the one popularized by the hit BBC series of the same name, although theirs are camouflage.
Sloviansk is one of four cities that make up Ukraine's "fortified belt", a system of heavily reinforced defensive lines in areas of the eastern Donetsk region that still remain under Ukrainian control.
Russia wants Kyiv to give up the fortified cities, which occupy a central place in talks on a possible peace agreement, resumed in Abu Dhabi between Ukraine, Russia and the United States after nine months of interruption.
Ukrainians worry that if that happens, Russia could more easily advance westward, and even reach the capital, Kyiv.
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Once in the city, we hid the vehicles under the trees and continued the route on foot. Yasha carries a shotgun, a last resort to try to shoot down Russian drones. Tetiana, in halting English, assures us that walking is safer than traveling by car.
Abandoned vehicles dot the streets, recently destroyed by remotely operated Russian vision drones. Anti-drone networks covering roads do not guarantee safety.
Tetiana shows us on her mobile a video recorded a few days before, in which several drones can be heard buzzing above her, and then the shots of light weapons while the Ukrainian forces try to shoot them down. She admits it can be scary, but explains that she felt driven to help her country, leaving behind her dream of becoming an opera singer.
Sloviansk is now a shadow of its former self. Very few buildings have been left intact, and many have been reduced to rubble.
As we move forward, Tetiana shows us a school recently destroyed by Russian gliding bombs. Across the street, a gaping hole opens up in an abandoned block of flats.
image copyrightBBC/Moose Campbell
Broken glass covers the sidewalk. The few stores still operating are boarded up, making it difficult to tell which ones are still open. Most have closed.
Tetiana claims that the Russians are doing everything they can to intimidate people and drive them out of the city.
"That is their strategy: forcing people to leave in the midst of chaos, gathering the few belongings they have left and fleeing amid enormous fear and suffering. They want people to be left without a place to live," he says.
It is a pattern that has already been seen in other Ukrainian cities in the Donbas, such as Pokrovsk and Bakhmut. These cities are now ghost towns reduced to rubble, but which eventually fell into Russian hands.
Russia has already taken almost 90% of Donbas, which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, but its advances this year have practically stalled in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance.
The White House is optimistic about resuming talks in Abu Dhabi, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's refusal to give up the territory.
Last October was the deadliest month for Russian troops since the start of their large-scale invasion, with more than 54,000 dead and wounded, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
Russian forces continue to make life almost impossible in the cities that make up the so-called "fortified belt" of Ukraine.
"This is my home"
Before the war, Sloviansk was a city of more than 200,000 inhabitants. Now, less than 10% of them remain and the population is decreasing day by day.
But amid the near-constant sound of air raid sirens, there are still signs that people are clinging to life here. Iryna, born in Sloviansk, works in one of the last remaining cafes in the city.
"I'm forced to walk around crying," she tells me. "How can they do this to me?"
According to him, life has become incredibly difficult. He has already lost his home. But despite her tears, she still retains her defiant spirit: "I will not leave Sloviansk. This is my home."
Inga, 53, was also born and raised here, and continues to work in the city despite the danger.
"It's stressful. Honestly, I don't even know what to say," she says, although she stays because of what she calls the "fear of the unknown."
"I simply have nowhere to go, and I have no money to leave or to support myself afterwards." There is also nowhere else in Ukraine that I consider really safe, he adds.
We met the National Guard's Omega Special Forces drone unit two years ago while fighting in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine.
Only four members remain from that original team. The rest were transferred to other units, were wounded or killed in combat.
Among the dead was Oleksandr, brother of the man in command of the unit, who now describes it as his family.
Oleksandr jokes that it's like the TV series Peaky Blinders, "but without the crime and drugs." Back at their base, they share a meal every night.
Before each meal, recite a prayer of thanks for surviving another day. The meal is accompanied by classical music that plays through a speaker. This helps mitigate the noise of nearby explosions.
"I think this is the most difficult situation we have ever faced," says Oleksandr, who stresses the importance of staying put.
"We must be here to inflict maximum damage on the enemy. We fight here because it is where the most intense phase of the war is taking place. Russia's claim that it will reach the borders of Donbas, take it and then the war will end is absolutely false," he insists.
"Everyone thinks about leaving"
The remaining cities of Ukraine's "fortified belt" constitute a strong defensive line and a major obstacle to any Russian advance. The intense presence of drones in the area makes it extremely difficult for either side to gain ground.
Although peace talks have resumed, Oleksandr notes that they have so far yielded no results.
"I really want this war to end," he says, "but if you ask me if I think these negotiations will be successful. No, I don't think they will."
The next morning, we are not the only ones who left the place, but a dozen civilians have arrived at an evacuation point in the center to be escorted out.
They carry with them all the belongings they can carry and are escorted to a bunker for their safety. Another loud burst of small arms fire is heard outside, indicating that more drones are nearby.
Sloviansk resident Alina Shyrko is coordinating the evacuation of civilians and says the situation has deteriorated rapidly in recent months. Families with children have already been ordered to leave.
"Everyone thinks about leaving," he says. "I'm thinking about it too."
Ukraine still retains control of Sloviansk, but its source of life, its people, is gradually fading away.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Hartmann, Volodymyr Lozhko and Moose Campbell.
This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
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