Local Vitaly Bardas noted that the nine-story buildings that dominate the skyline of Kupiansk in northeast Ukraine "stand like black candles" after being devastated by years of Russian airstrikes.
The logistical hub is once again in the sights of Moscow after been overrun by Russia on the first day of its 2022 invasion and then retaken by Ukraine in a spectacular counteroffensive months later.
Ukraine's military has acknowledged that Russian soldiers in civilian clothing have been sneaking into its streets and attacking from the north. Moscow says the city is surrounded.Locals worry what would happen if Russia retakes the city. One such local is Bardas, a 50-year-old municipal worker whom AFP interviewed at a refugee shelter.

According to accounts gathered by Ukrainian authorities and rights groups, Moscow's forces persecuted and tortured dozens of citizens accused of backing Kyiv, as they did in most of the areas they took.
According to Bardas, who remained in the city during the seven-month Russian occupation, "they were looking for those who fought in 2014, they were looking very hard."
"They brutally beat them. I've heard and am aware of this. due to the fact that I had a few friends there. With obvious horror in his eyes, he said, "I don't even want to think about it."
"Kill zone"
In the autumn of 2022, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive and retook Kupiansk, upsetting the Kremlin and garnering praise from Kyiv's Western supporters.
However, three years later, Russian forces are once again at its borders.Bardas added, "I didn't think it would be lost again," with a sad expression on his face.
He was one of an estimated 760 individuals remaining in the city's ruins until early October.
Although he spent his entire life there, he had a hard time remembering life there before to the Russian invasion.
"It's difficult to recall after these three years. Mostly, now I just think of the negative things.
He packed his things and departed in the face of Russia's advancing army and a barrage of new lethal tethered drones that were impossible to block and difficult to detect since they were powered by fiber-optic connections.

The front is now a 15-kilometer (nine-mile) deep "kill zone" due to the gadgets.
Vitaly's neighbour drove him across fields to get away since they were safer than the roads, where drones were waiting to chase and crash into automobiles.
Since being sent off, Vitaly has not heard from the neighbour because he does not have a cellphone connection to the city.

The front is now a 15-kilometer (nine-mile) deep "kill zone" due to the gadgets.
Vitaly's neighbour drove him across fields to get away since they were safer than the roads, where drones were waiting to chase and crash into automobiles.
Since he was dropped off, Vitaly has not heard from his neighbour because he does not have a cellphone connection to the city.
A soldier named Vadim was nervous as he got ready to cross the death zone to replenish troops at the front, not far from Kupiansk.
He claimed to have approached every assignment "as if it were the last" while his hands were shaking.

For Moscow, the city is both strategically and symbolically significant.
"Kupiansk will become a logistics hub for them if they capture it," noted Dandy, the commander of Ukrainian drones.
Because it has already been occupied, it is also a political target. They must now demonstrate some sort of triumph," he continued.
Large displays in a Ukrainian command centre behind the fighting show footage from a dozen drones flying over the city, which has been reduced to a smoking mass of rubble.

"There! "A dirty Russian!" yelled an officer.
The Russian soldier looked up abruptly, saw the danger, and began to scurry clumsily into the brush.
On the screen, a fireball bursts without sound.
The soldiers saw the man tremble on the ground before he passed out and became still.
Another citizen concerned about a Russian takeover is 50-year-old Natalia Guseva.
In August 2022, she relocated to Poland, but she quickly returned when Ukraine liberated the region surrounding Kupiansk a few weeks later.
Her son is a member of the army of Ukraine. In case it is found, she has buried his military diploma in the garden.
The woman, who now resides in Borivske, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Kupiansk, stated, "But I can't remember where," because Russian drones have already destroyed nearby communities.

While she was buying a cabbage from a makeshift street stall, the seller interjected to address the likelihood of Russia recapturing the area: "Once was more than enough."
Guseva is tired of living in dread, but he is certain that Ukraine could free it again if needed. "They should go home now."