Only drones can be heard! There is only darkness and the hum of the small drones' engines, interrupted from time to time by an explosion when they find a victim. There are others, much larger, that make no noise. Only the detonation is heard. "It's terrifying," Andrei, one of the few remaining inhabitants of Kramatorsk, tells me. Most have been evacuated by government order.

A giant net surrounds the entire road in the direction of the front of Kramatorsk that stretches for hundreds of kilometers. The system is simple: a succession of metal poles placed on both sides of the pavement is repeated continuously along the route. This structure supports large meshes that cover the sides and the top of the road, forming a kind of protective tunnel. Some of these nets are white and others have green hues. In various places, it is common to see dead birds, which have become entangled and trapped. The scene, added to the usual appearance of the road – where very few vehicles circulate – gives the whole a hellish air.