This is what residents in the eastern Ukrainian village of Spartak woke up to, after a night of shelling.

Buildings like the local school...destroyed or pot-marked.

(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HEADTEACHER, LYUDMILA VANINA, SAYING:

"It all happened last night, last time there was just a little bit, but now everything, even the canteen..."

For weeks, the village has been caught in the crossfire of a months-long war between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.

Many have already fled, leaving behind a mixture of the elderly and the proud.

SOUNDBITE: UNIDENTIFIED MAN POINTS, SAYING:

"It strikes and then we just go outside and then it strikes again."

There's confusion around talk of a possible ceasefire.

Russia, which Ukraine and the west believe is funding the rebels, says steps towards peace have been agreed to but not an actual truce.

Furthering the confusion, Moscow announced huge military exercises for later this month.