Victoria Shypko has a clock on the wall of her dining room in Yampil, eastern Ukraine, whose hands move backwards. "What's the difference!" it says in Russian, as the hours, minutes and seconds tick anti-clockwise. Outside, the sound of Ukrainian artillery fire echoes through the frozen valley -- a constant reminder of the fight for control of the surrounding countryside. In April last year, Russian forces seized Yampil. Ukraine then wrested it back in September. Now, locals fear a renewed Russian offensive from over the hills to the east as the warmer spring weather approaches. Their situation, trapped in this back and forth, is precarious. "For the past 10 months we've lived without money" says Shypko, a former psychiatric nurse, "what will next winter be like? I can't imagine." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES