In the snow-blanketed fields of eastern Europe hundreds of thousands of troops face each other in sub-zero, bitingly cold trenches and shell-smashed buildings, bracing for war.
Many are unseen, camouflaged, heavily-armed and hidden behind anti-sniper netting, huddled behind derelict buildings and exchanging the odd shot, mortar round or artillery shell.
After months of tension, they know they could be just a few words barked down a radio from a tsunami of armoured violence as Europe tips towards bloody conflict.
The monument of the Three Sisters, in the tense no-man’s land between Ukraine, Belarus and Russia has proudly celebrated friendship between the three countries since 1975.
We visited it, close to the north Ukrainian village of Senkivka, and find ourselves in a stateless no-man’s land the size of two football pitches, sadly now a deluded landmark of peace.
A Kyiv monument celebrating friendship with Moscow was destroyed last year and tragically this one we are seeing now could be shelled to bits and trampled under tanks within hours.
It is eerily silent and foreboding visiting The Three Sisters as many believe the Kremlin could order a lightning strike through Belarus, deep into Ukraine, hitting Kyiv.
And a few miles north, we learned today, a staggering 80,000 Russian and Moscow-supporting Belarusian soldiers have quietly gathered for so-called “exercises.”
This is many more than Russia has revealed officially.
Close to 100 Russian tanks arrived there just days ago, 34 troop carrier trains ferrying in a combat force that swells daily, including 500 Spetsnaz special forces troops.
These troops are bolstered by short-range ballistic missiles, howitzers, multiple launch rocket systems, 71 tanks alone in the Belarus town of Rechista, just 40 miles from us.
Hundreds more tanks are based elsewhere within striking distance of Ukraine having been freighted into Russia’s client state in staggering numbers by train.
In the town of Yelsk, in Belarus, less than 12 miles from Ukraine, thousands of Russian troops of the 38th Motor Rifle Brigade are camped out, we are told.
This area is the new focus of many western intelligence agencies and foreign officers, a new front where it could be viewed as a near-open back door for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Few believe Moscow’s claim that her troops are in Belarus for an exercise but that it may be a huge deception offering Putin the option to strike Kyiv.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko came close to confirming it today, vowing to return Ukraine to ”our slavs.”
In a crazed outburst of paranoia he said: “It is important for the west to drown Russia, Ukraine and the general Slavic brotherhood in blood.
“Ukraine will be returned to the bosom of the Slavs. We will definitely do it.”
And he said war will start if there is an attack on Belarus or Russia, adding that “nuclear powers have been trying to build new agreements to avoid a Third World War, but they are not succeeding - so the public is now being prepared for war.”
Western intelligence agencies suspect Putin will create a false flag mission in which his troops or allied troops come under attack and a retaliation order is given.
The false flag will be that it was Ukrainian troops who started it rather than Putin’s own troops attacking themselves to spark war.
Rechytsa, where many Russian troops are in Belarus, is nowhere near the Russian training area.
Many believe, including Germany’s intelligence chiefs, that Vladimir Putin has not yet decided when and from where to attack, but that he will give the order.
The German foreign intelligence service BND said today that Russia is prepared to attack Ukraine but has not yet decided whether to do so.
Chillingly Bruno Kahl, the BND’s chief, said: “I believe that the decision to attack has not yet been made.”
So for now Putin is keeping the world guessing.
Russia has claimed British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will visit Moscow in a fortnight and Britain has sent thousands of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to help the fight against Russia.
The Mirror understands the UK will send two battle groups of troops to NATO member Baltic states to bolster against Russian aggression.
And soldiers in the UK have been put on five day’s notice to move in case they are deployed - even though UK forces will not for now be deployed to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron has Putin Russia must respect the sovereignty of its neighbours as Western allies tried to defuse tensions.
Putin said the United States and NATO had not addressed Russia’s main security demands in their standoff over Ukraine.
And NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was ready to increase its troop presence in eastern Europe.
He said: “From the NATO side we are ready to engage in political dialogue. But we’re also ready to respond if Russia chooses an armed conflict confrontation.”
It may be too late for the Senkivka the border guard force we meet here who are the lightly-armed first responders to a Russian high-tech onslaught of modern weaponry.
At the same time, 126,000 Russian combat troops are gathered at Ukraine’s eastern flank and off its coast and another 30,000 pro-Moscow separatists are in contested Donbas.
We went there a few weeks ago and Ukraine’s forces were bracing for an attack constantly.
Now the attention of many has turned to Belarus, at the other end of Ukraine in the north, on the border with Belarus where we are.
Here, nervous-looking Ukrainian border guards in white camouflage patrol the woods.
They are aware that every day more Russian forces arrive in Belarus and they will have to hold the line until rapid response forces arrive to reinforce.
Machine gun and sniper nests are dotted all along this border, which is fenced as far as the eye can see and ground sensors are primed to alert them to an attack.
Tank traps lie by the side of the road, ready to be thrown into the road to slow Russian forces down if they roll over the border towards Kyiv.
One border guard Oleksandra Stupak, 28, is cagey about what happens if there is an attack as Ukraine does not want to let the Russians know how they are protected.
She tells us: “Our intelligence people are monitoring the situation and we are here to guard Ukraine.
“If something happens more forces will arrive very soon but I cannot tell you exactly how many there are but there is protection here.”
Just half an hour’s drive south to the countryside village of Horodnia, waitress Anastasia Perskova, 25, is deeply worried about a new front opening on the border with Belarus.
Like so many Ukrainans, she fears she is right in the way of Russia’s troops - the guessing game is unbearable as it is almost impossible to predict and move away from the conflict zone if war does break out.
She says: “I am very worried because we are living very close to the border with Belarus and we know the Russian troops are there.
“I have nothing against Russian people but I like Ukraine being friendly with Europe and I spend a lot of time in Europe.”
Anastasia, who works in Lavanda Cafe in the town of Horodnia, perfected her English working in Stratford Upon Avon for six months and tell us: “If they do come and they want to go to Kyiv then we are in the way.
“Depending on what happens I will try to make my way to west Ukraine.
“I have packed some things, put my documents together and money as a protection and will travel with my family.”
Referring to the years of war Donbas, in east Ukraine, has suffered between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops she says:
“I am very concerned about the possibility of war as I do not want my home area to turn into the same as Donbas.
“The same thing could happen all over again. I do not know what will happen. I was born here but I may have to leave.”
Analysis by Chris Hughes
Troops and locals here often cope with temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees.
When we visited Senkivka, a small and remote village of around 300 wooden houses, it was minus one degrees.
Most of Senkivka’s locals are elderly as many of the younger people have moved to Belarus or to bigger towns in Ukraine as there is hardly any work here. Only 100 people live in this border village so many homes are abandoned.
The larger town of Horodnia, ten miles south of the border, has a population of just 10,000.
People are going about their daily chores, shopping and visiting friends.
Many locals do not have the resources to flee so they carry on with their lives, as if in denial, praying there will not be war.
The town is friendly and has several banks and supermarket-style shops, but people still struggle to find work.
It is possible to rent an apartment for around £50 a month here and salaries are at most £250 a month. Many people here earn a lot less so they seek work elsewhere.
It was here that we met and interviewed waitress Anastasia, who like many young people, spends half the year seeking work in Europe.
