Finally, the threat from the sky passed, and I ordered everyone to return to their vehicles. Sergey Voronov approached and reported that his hastily restored truck was leaking oil and had a terrible grinding noise in the front suspension, so he couldn't guarantee the truck would make it. Sergey advised driving exclusively on smooth asphalt and avoiding any potholed dirt roads. I heeded the advice of the most experienced driver on our team, and the convoy slowly moved on.
As we approached the village of Verbilki, we immediately spotted a distant barricade of wrecked cars at the entrance, with armed men standing near it. An unfamiliar flag was flying over this checkpoint: a yellow circle with a black triangle inside it, painted on the familiar Russian tricolor. The approaching column was sp
