Image caption, Ukraine's Peaky Blinders drone unit wear flat caps, a nod to the cult TV series from which they take their name The dangers in Slovyansk are clear from the start. If I say run, you run, Tetiana tells us. She and her colleague Yasha are escorting us into a city now under constant bombardment from Russian drones, missiles and glide bombs. It is raining and cloudy as we enter the city, and our military escorts call this good weather, meaning it is bad for drones. But the threat is still there, and Yasha keeps his eyes peeled on the skies, while 21-year-old Tetiana scours her phone for the latest military intelligence on likely threats from the air.

The white armoured police van speeds into the eastern Ukrainian town of Bilozerske, a steel cage mounted across its body to protect it from Russian drones. They'd already lost one van, a direct hit from a drone to the front of the vehicle; the cage, and powerful rooftop drone jamming equipment, offer extra protection. But still, it's dangerous being here: the police, known as the White Angels, want to spend as little time in Bilozerske as possible. The small, pretty mining town, just nine miles (14km) from the front line, is slowly being destroyed by Russia's summer offensive. The local hospital and banks have long since closed.