Extract from ABC News
Russian soldiers have been closing in on Kramatorsk, in the Donbas region of Ukraine. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
These days, sirens and explosions are pretty much the only things that punctuate the eerie silence in Kramatorsk.
The air-raid alerts ring out regularly over the city in Ukraine's east, alerting those who remain about incoming drone attacks. Any bangs that follow speak for themselves.
Not so long ago, around 150,000 people called this place home. Now, troops outnumber civilians on most streets.
Kramatorsk and its surrounds are considered among the biggest prizes coveted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But more than three-and-a-half years later, he's still trying to seize it.
For all the talk of peace deals and ceasefires in the past two weeks since Mr Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, held a historic summit in Alaska, fighting around this city remains unrelenting.
The front lines are less than 30 kilometres away. And there's evidence to suggest each day, Moscow's forces edge a little closer.
A Ukrainian soldier runs to avoid a Russian combat drone in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka this week. (Reuters: Yevhen Titov)
"Only stupid people aren't scared. I'm scared," says Katherin, who's lived in Kramatorsk her entire life.
The 34-year-old runs a patisserie in the city. Once, it served Parisian-style fare, but these days she's gone back to basics, selling coffee and cake to nourish weary soldiers.
Despite the looming threat of Russian occupation, Katherin tells the ABC she's reluctant to evacuate and has become "comfortable" in this dangerous new reality.
"I have an eight-year-old son and my mother is here also," she says.
"If the Ukrainian government asks us to leave, then of course we will, but until then I want to work and I want to stay."
Katherin has lived in Kramatorsk for her entire life, and wants to stay despite constant Russian attacks. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
Ukraine has spent considerable resources defending Kramatorsk, and places like it, in what's known as the Donbas region.
The cities and largest towns are important logistics hubs and have rail and road links to the rest of the country.
Russia annexed part of the Donbas using paramilitary groups in 2014 and has taken even more territory since its full-scale invasion.
Now it controls an estimated 88 per cent of the area and has made no secret of its desire to continue its land grab.
When he ordered his troops across the border and into Ukraine in 2022, Mr Putin claimed: "We have to take bold and immediate action. The people's republics of Donbass have asked Russia for help."
Despite some of the most ferocious fighting in the war to date and estimated casualties in the hundreds of thousands on both sides, territorial gains have been piecemeal.
But they have been traceable.
The aftermath of a Russian strike on Kramatorsk on July 31. The city has been attacked regularly. (Reuters: Yevhen Titov)
There's evidence to suggest Russian troops have made advances towards Kramatorsk, even in the two weeks since the Trump–Putin so-called peace summit.
The Institute for the Study of War — a Washington DC-based non-profit — tracks daily developments on the front lines in Ukraine and assesses Russia's claimed advances.
Geolocated videos posted online in the past two weeks show evidence that Moscow's forces are closing in on the city.
On August 20, for example, Russian military blogger Anatoliy Radov uploaded a map claiming the country's army had reached the outskirts of Kostyantynivka, which is about a 30-minute drive from Kramatorsk.
Two days later, the Kremlin's defence ministry claimed the entire settlement had been "liberated", although on-the-ground accounts from the area indicate fighting continues.
Russia's defence ministry posted a video it claimed showed an assault on the village of Oleksandr-Shultyne.
Then, on August 21, Russia's Ministry of Defence posted a video on the encrypted messaging service Telegram of what it claimed were its soldiers capturing territory in nearby Oleksandr-Shultyne.
The vision shows troops throwing explosives into ruined buildings, where the update asserted "the enemy" was hiding.
On August 22, military bloggers uploaded footage of Ukrainian forces striking Russian troops in a field less than 17 kilometres from the outskirts of Kramatorsk and claimed they'd taken "new positions" and a "large stronghold" in the area.
If true, that would represent a territorial gain of about 1.5km from previous independent assessments of where Mr Putin's soldiers were operating.
In the days since, Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin posted a map claiming they'd moved even closer.
This map outlines some of the developments, both confirmed and claimed, in the area this month.
Grace Mappes is a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, and says Mr Putin's forces would "likely continue to prioritise efforts to envelop Kostyantynivka" in the near term.
But that doesn't mean other locations will be spared.
"Russian forces have been heavily striking fortress belt cities, especially Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, within the past months," she says.
"These are significant Ukrainian logistics hubs … and Russian forces are likely attempting to undermine these logistics lines."
On Friday, Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov claimed the country's military was capturing between 600 and 700 square kilometres of territory a month in Ukraine, roughly double the rate it had been earlier this year.
Around the time of the Alaska summit, Mr Trump made multiple references to the possibility Ukraine could use "land swaps" in exchange for peace.
One idea, reportedly put forward by the Kremlin, is to freeze the entire front lines where they are, in exchange for Russia being given control of the entire Donbas region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently ruled that out, arguing Mr Putin could use the new territory to launch fresh assaults, and that it is illegal under his country's constitution.
A woman carries supplies away from the site of a Russian strike in Kostyantynivka this week. (Reuters: Yevhen Titov)
The Kremlin's desire to control the Donbas region has a complex history.
It borders Russia and is rich in natural resources.
Most of its population speak Russian as their first language, partly because of an influx of migrants during the Soviet era, who arrived seeking work in the area's industrial hubs.
Ukrainian defence analyst Mykhailo Samus says the region was "part of the mythology of the Russian empire".
"Putin is trying to refresh that and build Russian empire 2.0 and is living in this mythology," he says.
"Putin says the people there [in the Donbas] are Russian and we need to 'protect them'.
"It's kind of crazy to kill people for mythology but that's the reality, Putin believes in this."
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met earlier this month in Alaska. (Reuters: Jeenah Moon)
The ABC was granted access to a top-secret training ground in Ukraine, where troops were being prepared to fight in the most dangerous Donbas battles.
Oleh joined the military a month after Russia's full-scale invasion and was on site to help new recruits improve their bunker-clearing and assault tactics.
The father of two has also spent significant time fighting on the front lines in the area.
"It's terrifying, but this is my duty to help my country," he says.
"I've been there, so I know what it's like. I have my family and I need to defend them."
In their search for a way through Ukraine's defences, Russian reconnaissance squads have been seen using motorbikes and specialised blankets that are designed to conceal body heat from night-vision sensors.
While the tactics have made some gains, they're so dangerous they're often referred to as de facto suicide missions, or, even more graphically: "Putin's meat grinder."
Oleh, a Ukrainian squad leader, who's been fighting in the Donbas region, says he wants to protect his family. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
As well as this brutal ground offensive, Russia has been peppering Kramatorsk with near-daily drone and missile attacks, which have prompted many residents to leave.
In a playground near the city's deserted main square, Lidia is watching her two children.
She left her home in a village about 30km from Kramatorsk when Moscow's troops closed in, hoping the larger metropolis would be safer.
Now, the 24-year-old is resigned to the fact she'll have to uproot her family again.
"It's very hard. The kids are anxious when drones start flying at night," she tells the ABC.
"Without my children, maybe I would stay, but because of them, we have to go."
Lidia is resigned to the fact she may have to leave Kramatorsk in the near future. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity over the past two weeks, it remains unclear if peace is a realistic possibility in the near future.
After the Alaska summit, Mr Trump flagged the potential for an in-person meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy to be arranged "quickly".
However, in the days since, the Kremlin has poured cold water on that idea, questioning the legitimacy of Ukraine's leader and reiterating its absolutist framework for ending the war.
While it's been slow going, over the past year, some estimates show Russia has captured about 4,000 square kilometres of territory in the Donbas.
Alina is terrified about the prospect of staying in a city that, one day, could be under Russian control.
"The stories people tell about living under occupation — I don't want that," she says.
"I'm afraid that if I don't leave now, I won't be able to come back. I don't want to live under occupation. God forbid."
Damaged buildings and constant danger have become part of life in Kramatorsk. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
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