ON THE OUTSKIRTS of the eastern city of Pokrovsk two women stand waiting for their lift. Like most civilians in the city they have already fled elsewhere, but they have come back to collect some belongings. They are standing by a boarded-up petrol station which was bustling just a few months ago. Russian troops are creeping ever closer, and a full-scale battle for it is about to be joined. New defensive lines have been dug to the west of Pokrovsk to which, if and when it falls, Ukrainian troops will hope to fall back.