It’s a freezing night on January 24th, 2023. The desolate streets of the southeastern Ukrainian town, echo with silence, as destroyed apartment complexes are mostly uninhabited at this point. Nevertheless, underneath the streets, the basements are hives of activity. The operators of Ukrianain night-vision drones see in real-time how hundreds of Russian armored vehicles pack up into the neighboring town of Mykilske. For a few hours after that, there is no movement, no artillery or air strikes. Only silence, before the storm, as the Russian Armed Forces are about to launch their long-awaited winter offensive. Their objective is the key town of Vuhledar.