// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Inside devastated front-line city that Russia wants Ukraine to give up
Meet the Peaky Blinders, Ukraine's drone unit protecting devastated front-line city
"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.
They are members of a drone unit who call themselves Peaky Blinders and their distinctive emblem is a flat cap of the type made popular by the cult BBC TV series, although theirs are camouflaged.
Slovyansk is one of four cities that make up Ukraine's "fortress belt" - a system of heavily reinforced defence lines in the parts of eastern region of Donetsk still under its control.
Russia wants Kyiv to give up the fortress cities and they are central to talks on a possible peace deal that have resumed after nine months between Ukraine, Russia and the US in Abu Dhabi.
Ukrainians worry that doing so would make it much easier for Russia to advance further west, including to the capital Kyiv.
Very little of the city has been left unscathed by months of heavy bombardment
Once inside the city, we leave our vehicles hidden under the cover of trees and venture out on foot. Yasha carries a shotgun – a last resort to shoot down Russian drones. In halting English, Tetiana tells us walking is safer than travelling by car.