Ukrainians have discovered "cannon fodder" Russian conscript soldiers left behind as they liberate their city of Kherson from invaders.
The scent of coffee and smoked brisket rises from the rubble of buildings covered in bullet holes in southern Ukraine’s Bashtanka.
The diesel vibrations of military vehicles muffle the shrill of vendors trading in and around half-destroyed shop fronts.
Months ago it was the site of a fierce fight between Kremlin and Ukrainian forces before the Russians retreated in mid-March.
But just an hour’s drive outside Bashtanka, off-road and through barren empty fields, lies the new frontlines which are shifting slowly east as Ukrainian forces retake ground in Kherson captured by the Russians.
At one freshly-dug First World War-style trench, just over a mile from Russian positions, Major Nazar, 38, with the 63rd Mechanised Brigade tells the Mirror what his men contend with.
His face is lit by a torch as he explains deep from inside the trench’s underground bunker that he and his men have continually come up against recently mobilised Russian conscripts.
How can he tell they are recently mobilised? Aside from their military uniform, the Major explains that the conscripts are recognisable by “their level of preparation”.
He describes them as useful for little more than “cannon fodder”.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin said only men with previous service in the armed forces would be called up, this rule has not been followed.
Military analysts say many men have been sent to the front with little training, ending up poorly equipped and poorly led.
In an unprecedented move, the men of the 155th Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet Marines launched piercing criticism against a senior Russian official on Sunday, accusing authorities of “hiding” the number of Russian casualties “for fear of being held accountable”.
Bashtanka is in the Mykolaiv oblast, near the administrative border with the Kherson region and the trench is not far from the city of Kherson in an undisclosed location.
But these frontlines may soon change after the Kremlin’s forces staged a withdrawal on Wednesday from the western bank of the Dnipro River.
The Kremlin claimed in a televised address its forces would leave the right bank of Kherson, the biggest prize Russia took when it invaded.
But in reality, the move likely means Russia will send its weapons elsewhere and Ukraine has issued a stark warning that the staged TV statement is likely a ruse.
On Thursday morning, an adviser to Ukraine's president said Russian forces intend to "destroy" Kherson.
Today, Ukrainians claim they have nearly retaken the city.
The region is of strategic importance because it connects the Russian-annexed peninsula of Crimea with fresh water.
“I talked to the guys in charge of [Ukrainian] intelligence, they're really worried. Yes, the [Russians] are moving heavy weapons. Great. Is Kherson liberated? Absolutely not. Do we know what to expect? No, we don't,” Vera Mironova, a visiting fellow at Harvard University and expert on the ground in Ukraine tells the Mirror.
About a month ago, a Russian reconnaissance probe ran into part of the 63rd’s line, but Ukrainian troops were able to repel the attack.
Nazar says Russian forces do not care about their men and after the attack happened his troops found themselves digging makeshift graves among the bare autumn trees.
“They lost people, but they didn’t take their dead, so we had to bury their soldiers.”
Nazar becomes animated when comparing his forces to Putin’s, adding: “You can get the newest weapon, the newest tanks but there won’t be anything without a good man.
“There must be motivation for the weapon to work. My people have that motivation. They are defending their native land and their family.”
He says the Russians came to “our land” and from day one of the invasion even the local Grannies did not let them forget that - by giving them “cherries with laxatives”.
Metres below ground, support from Western nations is evident.
American military ration packets litter the trench floor and a hodgepodge of different camouflage patterns clad the soldiers, with uniforms from Germany, Denmark and the United States.
It is hard to imagine a Russian commander speaking in the same way Nazar does about the opponent, given the torture dished out to Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Nazar says: “The enemy is a human too. However stupid it sounds, the Ukrainian Armed Forces value not only Ukrainian lives but the enemy’s lives.”
Nazar continues: “War has rules. If a person is taken prisoner, it doesn’t mean that he has to be tortured or humiliated.
“As a commander, I have to do everything to get all people who came to me on the 24th of February home.”
Choking back tears Nazar says the worst part of war is when “guys you know and have coffee with don’t come back".
And the best days “are when you liberate territory and don’t lose anyone”.
The closer you get to contact the less willing civilians are to talk. Many are terrified of Russians, fearful they will return and harm them if they speak out.
But Lesya (name changed) from Kherson city says via Whatsapp to the Mirror people are very frightened. She decided not to leave because she has elderly relatives in the city who need to be looked after.
She says the city looks like an “open robbery” after Russians continually looted everything.
The unknown keeps her up at night - she adds: “You don't know what your fate may be in five minutes, let alone one hour or even what will happen the next day.”
Lesya wanted to send a message to Putin: “We are not Russians. We don't want to be your friends. We don't want to be your brothers. We are separate and free. And the only thing we want to say is to go home.”
