Slovyansk , Ukraine ( CNN ) -- In a forest of pines to the east of Slovyansk , Prapor and his seventy men were digging in Thursday . A man in his late-fifties with a magnificent beard and four different weapons , Prapor freely admitted he was not a local . But he was here -- he said -- to resist the `` Ukrainian fascists '' in Krasny Liman , a nearby town just recaptured by government forces . He was dismissive of the group that had fled Krasny -- `` Cossacks , '' he sneered . He had already lost seven men , but his fighters were the bravest . They would not run away . Meeting Prapor was revealing in several ways . Pro-Russian separatists working in eastern Ukraine are better organized , better armed ( Prapor 's group had a truck-mounted anti-aircraft gun that was clearly working ) , and more of them appear to come from beyond Ukraine . And they are building a maze of roadblocks and defensive positions across the region . But a few kilometers beyond , in rolling countryside under a hot sun , a very different group was setting up camp : a substantial force of Ukrainian paratroopers , with armored personnel carriers and artillery . Above , a reconnaissance plane drifted in loops . Both sides look -- at least militarily -- more competent than they did a few weeks ago . Checkpoints used to be few and far between . Now there is a maze of them -- more separatist than Ukrainian -- dotted across both the Donetsk and Luhansk regions . The insignia of the `` Vostok Battalion '' -- a group that includes both Russian and local fighters -- is common at the roadblocks that have sprung up on the main roads leading into Donetsk . A few weeks ago , we watched the bedraggled remnants of the Ukrainian army 's 25th Division surrounded and harangued by locals near Kramatorsk . Now there is a sense of purpose among the units newly deployed , and a greater readiness to use heavy armor . Throughout an extensive tour of the Slovyansk area , the crump of artillery and boom of tankfire sounded periodically . But the targeting is sometimes puzzling . Krasny Liman is a town of some 20,000 people and a major railway junction . But one of its two hospitals is in ruins , struck repeatedly by what appeared to have been mortars or shells . There was also evidence of strafing from the air . A tearful nurse approached us , saying that whoever had done this was not human . She -- and others -- thought Ukrainian forces were responsible , but they could not be sure . Patients had been evacuated , but one middle-aged man sat listlessly on a bench outside . He had nowhere to go , he told us ; a doctor came past once a day to give him an injection . The new mayor , installed Thursday as Kiev 's local appointee , said he would investigate the bombing of the hospital . But for the government , recovering Krasny Liman is a rare victory -- and judging by the number of troops installed around the town , one it intends to protect . Now Ukrainian armor seems intent on squeezing separatist positions closer to Slovyansk . It seems like eastern Ukraine is half-way through a game of chess , pieces scattered across the board in threatening positions , with neither black nor white close to checkmate . Civilians , whatever their allegiance , are suffering the consequences . The main highway that links Slovyansk and the Russian border , a route crowded with trucks just a few weeks ago , is deserted . In places the tarmac is chewed up by the impact of mortar fire . But once in a while an ancient , battered car lurches onto the road from a farm-track . A family has escaped from Slovyansk , where water and electricity supplies are faltering and fresh food is getting more difficult to find . The intentions of either side in this scattered war of attrition are hard to work out . Some Ukrainian analysts say that Russian President Vladimir Putin has what he wants already , a simmering insurgency that can be stoked any time Ukraine 's new leader , Petro Poroshenko , looks to deepen his country 's relationship with Europe and NATO . There seems to be no attempt from the Russian side to stem the growing flow of fighters crossing into Ukraine , and border clashes have intensified . As for Kiev 's strategy , it 's unclear as of now whether it feel its `` Anti-Terrorist Operation '' can overcome the separatists or at least redress the military balance as a precursor to negotiations . What seems unlikely is that Poroshenko will accede to the demand of the Prime Minister of the self-declared Donetsk People 's Republic , Alexander Borodai , who told CNN there would be no talks until Ukrainian forces left the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions . Poroshenko 's message to the east in his inauguration speech Saturday will be closely scrutinized , but even ordinary people in Donetsk are suspicious of him , noting his support as a candidate for a hard line against the separatists and his threat to send the army into the city . The new President 's message to the outside world will be equally critical , as he walks the tightrope between making Ukraine part of Europe -- the dream , still unrealized , that brought thousands onto the streets of Kiev in February -- and reassuring Russia that its interests in the neighborhood will be acknowledged . It is a reality he recognized when he told the Washington Post in April : `` Without a direct dialogue with Russia , it will be impossible to create security . '' Creating security seems a long way off . On Thursday , a car raced out of Slovyansk and emptied a mother and her three young children on the main highway to be ferried somewhere safer . Drawing on a cigarette , the 30-something driver called Vladimir said they were not his relatives . He was just helping them escape . `` It 's hell down there , '' he said , before jumping into his car to return .
It seems like eastern Ukraine is half-way through a game of chess , writes CNN 's Tim Lister . Lister : Civilians , whatever their allegiance , are suffering the consequences . The intentions of either side in this scattered war of attrition are hard to work out , he says . Lister : Creating security seems a long way off , writes Lister .