Trains no longer run to Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region - part of the Donbas claimed in its entirety by Russia's President Vladimir Putin. It's another sign of the steady Russian advance.
Instead, the last station is now on the western side of the Donetsk border. This is where civilians and soldiers wait for a ride towards relative safety - their train to get out of Dodge.
Putin has been sounding more bullish since the leak of US proposals to end the war, widely seen as being in tune with his maximalist demands. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says territory remains the most difficult issue facing US-led peace talks.
At the last station on the line, soldier Andrii and his girlfriend Polina are parting after an all-too-brief time together. Andrii has to return to the front and they don't know when they'll see each other again.
He laughs when I mention peace talks, which have seen Donald Trump's envoys speak to Ukrainian negotiators before heading to Moscow, and dismisses them as chatter, just chatter. He doesn't think the war will be over soon.
Other soldiers boarding the train west seek temporary refuge from combat, taking some of their 20 days of leave. Exhaustion is palpable among them. Russian forces now control some 85% of the Donbas, and the city of Pokrovsk, a strategic point, has been recently captured.
Denys, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, expresses the collective sentiment: Everyone's drained, everyone's tired mentally and physically. Amidst despair, he asserts, Nobody will give Putin the Donbas. No way, it's our land.
For many Ukrainians, ceding territory isn't an option. At least a quarter of a million people live in the vital towns within the region, making the prospect of giving them up unimaginable. The US believes the odds are stacked against Ukraine's military, with significant civilian exodus continuing in search of safety.
Witnessing this exodus, we see families arriving at a reception center in Lozova. Escapes are made under the cloak of heavy fog, a buffer against drone surveillance.
One family, Yevheniy, Maryna, and their children, fled from Kramatorsk. Maryna admits fears as new drone threats make simple tasks perilous. They aim to relocate to Kyiv, casting doubt on the ongoing peace talks.
Inna, another refugee, echoes the sentiment that peace might come at the cost of leaving her homeland, but emphasizes the urgent need for safety.
As despair deepens, desertion rates among Ukrainian soldiers are rising, now totaling nearly 300,000 cases. One soldier, Serhii, who has concealed himself to avoid arrest, reflects on his struggles in an ineffectively led unit and questions if victory is achievable against overwhelming odds.
While some remain firm in their resolve to maintain their land, the growing discussions around peace show a populace caught between the hope for resolution and the grim realities of war.
