In a picturesque resort town on the northern edge of Ukraine’s Donbas region, people can hear the shelling coming closer. The Russians are just five miles to the north.
Sviatohirsk was once a staple of the tourist trail but now it is just another place in the Donbas where people flee the fighting. Most of its permanent residents have themselves fled, fearing the war will not stop its ruthless advance here.
It was famed for its historic Russian Orthodox church and monastery, set amid the wooded Holy Mountains of the Donbas. That monastery has been damaged by shrapnel from a Russian air strike that hit a target nearby. There is now a gaping hole in the church spire.
Just to the north is the city of Izyum where there is already fierce fighting. The residents who had fled Izyum told us they had been bombed day and night, been without running water and electricity for weeks. They also said there were bodies on the streets.
“Everyone is worried,” the town’s mayor, Vladimir, tells me.
He says those who have remained regularly call to check he’s not leaving. He is not. He is staying put and organising food parcels for the town’s dwindling population. These are people who are tired, hungry and scared, too scared sometimes to apportion any blame on Russia.
