making progress in the area around bakhmut, which seems to be at the moment the focus of the counteroffensive. as soon as one artillery round blast toward bakhmut, the crew rushes to prepare for another. the town since last year has been the epicenter of the war. gun commander artem has been in the area for months. the task of taking down coordinates and barking orders now routine. he says he s now half deaf from the blasts. yet, he has sensed a change. it feels like they re a re oft running away, he says, referring to the russians, and then the order to fire. there s barely a let-up in the distant thud of shelling.