The circumstances under which Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk assumed control of Ukraine’s ground forces in February could hardly have been less auspicious. The president was publicly feuding with the outgoing commander-in-chief, mobilisation was faltering and Republicans in America’s Congress had delayed a crucial aid package for what would prove to be six months, allowing Russia to regain the initiative.

Yet the general dismisses any idea that his new role might be a poisoned chalice. Despite the recent setbacks on the front line, he insisted Ukraine should not be judged by the “few…who are scared and cry out in panic”. His outgunned soldiers are “standing firm” because they know what is at stake. “Wherever there is Russia, there is nothing. Where thriving towns once stood, now lie skeletons, corpses, and ruins.”