On the entrance to Novoazovsk, a tank squats behind a freshly dug earth bank, it’s barrel pointing west, with the red and blue flag of Novorossia - the latest incarnation of the separatist fighter’s self-declared state flying on the turret.
But if the fighters here get their way, it won’t be parked there long. With the backing of Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, the men on the banks are eyeing up a band of territory stretching from the Russian border into the far west of Ukraine. First in their sights is the Black Sea city of Mariupol and then many more towns and cities in Ukraine.
“Mariupol? Yeah, we’re going to take Mariupol. And then we’re going all the way to Lviv,” said a stocky man with a beard and a camoflage-painted Kalashnikov.
“Our goal is Novorossia. All of it. Odessa, Kherson, everything.”
A turncoat lieutenant colonel of Ukrainian special forces who prefers to be known only by his nickname - Swat - says he rolled into town with his column of rebel fighters on Wednesday, seizing control of a stretch of scrubby beach front that has become Novorossia’s first outlet to the sea and depriving Ukraine of control of its southern border with Russia.
Their arrival sparked fears of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine aimed at creating a land corridor to Crimea, the peninsular annexed by Russia in March.
The offensive has paused for now, the fighters here say that is only a small part of their plan.
“There are already militia forces on all sides of Mariupol. We will stay here until we have established a self defence of local volunteers then move on,” said the commander.
Asked why no one has seen this encircling force, he claimed they were lying up in concealed positions, waiting for an order to move. There was no way to confirm the claim.
For now, life in Novoazovsk is going on as much as possible as normal.
Locals who spoke to the Telegraph said the new occupiers have caused little trouble, and since Thursday there has been no shelling in the area, allowing people to get back to work.
The men occupying Novoazovsk and manning what is now the frontline just outside town are a motley crew in mis-matched camouflage, who are variously too old, obese, malnourished, or simply unconvincing to be mistaken for serving Russian soldiers.
Their main vehicles are spray painted pick-up trucks, and their tanks - they have at least three - are battered and on closer inspection somewhat rusty T-64s.
They have discarded the tricolours of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic in favour of the flag of Novorossia - which resembles the flag of the confederacy without the stars - but they are otherwise not dissimilar to the rag-tag forces who have long been fighting in other parts of east Ukraine.
The problem is, that doesn’t quite add up.
For months before last week’s offensive, the rebels were retreating.
Superior Ukrainian numbers, artillery and airpower pushing them back into an ever shrinking patch of territory around the stronghold cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
But in a matter of days, they have not only turned the tide, but opened an entire new front.
For Ukrainian and Western Governments, there is only one explanation: the active involvement of regular Russian forces, including cross-border shelling that forced Ukrainian troops out of the area around Novoazovsk ahead of the advancing separatists.
To listen to the commander of the town, not a single man, weapon or vehicle came across the Russian border.
“We were readying our counter attack for a month. The Ukrainians abandoned a lot of equipment and vehicles in the southern Cauldron,” he said, referring to an encirclement of Ukrainian forces that was defeated last month.
“If Russia was here, this would have been over in days,” he said, outside the car workshop where he has established a temporary command post. “The tanks are Ukrainian, my gun is Ukrainian. As for artillery shooting from Russia - I wish.”
“Swat” claimed his column set off on Sunday from the rebel-held town of Krasnodon, over 100 miles away in the Luhansk region, and entered Novoazovsk on Wednesday.
He insists his forces at no point crossed into Russian territory - making a dog-leg to remain inside Ukrainian territory as they marched.
It is a familiar refrain, repeated by rebels all over war-torn eastern Ukraine. But it is wearing thin.
The Ukrainian military and Western governments called Monday’s assault say the assault that seized this town early last week came from Russia and was aided by cross-border artillery fire.
Ukrainian soldiers who fought here say they encountered troops whose equipment and professionalism meant they could only be Russian soldiers.
And locals in the town said they have seen unmistakable “regulars” in the early days of fighting here, though none were seen on Saturday.
And despite Swat’s bold words, it is difficult to see at first glance how they will take Mariupol - let alone roll all the way to Odessa - without some outside help.
The militia men are as motivated, and as shambolically equipped, as their Ukrainian enemies 20 miles to the West. On the surface, there is no greater advantage in numbers or equipment.
In a way, that illustrates the tragedy of this entire war.
Both sides say they are fighting against aggression, both claim to have superior morale born of the rightness of their cause, and both say they will fight until the end.
And while propaganda would make out this is a war partly about language rights, the truth is both sides include large numbers of native Russian speakers.
For at least some civilians in the conflict zone, the zealousness of both sides is wearing thin.
“Am I glad they are here? How can I say?” said Maria, a 42-year-old teacher visiting one of a handful of food shops that have reopened since the fighting ended.
“The whole thing is entirely artificial. All I know is that we had some local authorities, then we woke up and there is a new local authority.
“All I am happy about is that there’s not been any shelling for three days. It doesn’t matter to me whose flag is flying here, or who claims to be running the local administration
