The Donbas city of Toretsk is bracing for a fresh Russian assault, according to UK intelligence reports that have sent a shudder through the front lines. For the people who have remained in this battered town, the pattern is grimly familiar: a spike in troop movements, then the rumble of artillery, then the scramble for cellars. The men at the Ministry of Defence in London see the same pattern writ large.
They warn that a new Russian offensive is likely in the coming weeks, with Toretsk as one of the likely targets. The city, already a husk of its former self, could become another bloody footnote in this unending war. But what does this mean for the ordinary Ukrainians who have already lost everything?
For them, it is not a geopolitical calculation. It is the sound of boots on the ground, the sight of another family packing a single bag, the knowledge that hope is a luxury they cannot afford.