On a road near Ruska Lozova, a sign points towards Belgorod, a Russian city about 50 kilometres away.
Sergiy, a young soldier whose first name has been changed, said he would push the Ukrainian counter-offensive to Russia "with pleasure".
But the little soft toy with large blue eyes he wears on his bulletproof vest is not only to bring good luck.
"It's a gift from my ex-girlfriend. I put it on so they will be able to recognise me if I get blown up," he explained with a morbid chuckle.
In peaceful times, Moscow holidaymakers would travel this road to spend their summers on the Black Sea beaches of Crimea.
Now, a retired couple who had taken refuge in Kharkiv drove back to the village to search their house for "linen and clothing to change, documents, we forgot to take the documents last time".
"It is scary to see, the village was beautiful... and now everything is destroyed," said Semion, 70. "People have also died."
"Nobody was expecting that the war would start. I saw that he (Vladimir Putin) was abnormal 10 years ago. He is not human, I think. How could civilians be killed like that?" he said, mimicking machinegun fire.
"Even if we are elders, we are ready to take up arms and protect the village."
