Every morning Mykola and Yevhen venture in to the dangerous depths of Russia's offensive in Eastern Ukraine, tasked with rescuing stranded people desperate to escape.
Protected by their armoured vehicle and flak jackets, the men enter into the region where Russia's lethal land grab is taking place, knowing they may not make it out alive.
When 7.30 joined them on one of their morning rescue missions, AC/DC's Thunderstruck blasted from the car stereo, "maybe it should be highway to hell" one of them remarks, drawing a laugh from his partner.
Using word of mouth intelligence, the pair travel to villages around the Dobropillia area, knowing they will likely enter areas that are either soon to be or have already been infiltrated by Russian forces.
The risk is they may either be shot at or a drone may be used to destroy their vehicle and potentially kill them.
"You cannot show fear and you can't be afraid, your job is to evacuate them and be bold," Yevhen, who's been working in evacuations for over a year, told 7.30.
"It's very dangerous. You're under constant threat from drones, missiles and even artillery so you have to be sure to just get in, evacuate and then quickly drive out."
The people who are stranded often have no means of getting out earlier. Many of them are elderly or have disabilities.
Mykola said that in recent days, he noticed that some people were staying in their homes.
He believes they were clinging on to hope that diplomatic dialogues in Alaska and the multilateral meeting at the White House, involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would deliver peace and the war would end.
In the face of Russian advances others have fled.
"Some immediately understood the situation. They didn't wait, they had already left," Mykola told 7.30.
"Others were hoping it would all pass. They kept waiting for meetings between the presidents, they thought everything would stay quiet.
"But it doesn't matter what's happening — the shelling is constant."
Inside the 'fortress belt'
The volunteers regularly travel into the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, and the so-called fortress belt.
Ukraine has spent over a decade pouring billions of dollars into defending the area, as it is seen as a one of the most critical strategic territories in the context of the war.
Its highly fertile farmland and abundant mineral resources make it a critical driver of Ukraine's economy but it's geographic location provides major strategic value and many analysts believe Russia claiming the area would make it significantly harder to defend other major eastern Ukrainian cities.
Richard Arnold, a Muskingum University political scientist has said that if the Moscow controlled the Donbas it would be another means for Vladmir Putin to "goad the West and create havoc".
Russia has claimed over 80 per cent of the region by force but the Kremlin has reportedly demanded the entirety of it in a peace deal.
And over this European summer the Kremlin says Russian forces have made major breakthroughs in the Donbas, claiming several villages through low-tech kamikaze-style warfare.
That technique involves using light infantry on motorcycles, who after speeding towards the Ukrainian lines firing shots to break through, are then almost always killed.
"Drones are obviously very dangerous but they [the Russians] use suicide bikes and other things, so you can never be safe," Yevhen said.
The mission
For Mykola and Yevhen danger lurks around every corner and even when they head to a so-called "safe" location, we are told we cannot join them.
The reason?
We're told it's "far too dangerous".
Their mission is monitored by a coordinator, Andrii who is equipped with a drone detector and informs the volunteers of any incoming Russian air strikes.
He keeps in contact with them through a walkie-talkie.
"At the moment, we're in a relatively safe area, while the guys have already gone to where it's dangerous," Andrii told 7.30.
Andrii has also carried out hundreds of daring rescues himself, and since the beginning of what Russia still refers to as a "special military operation", has been shot at by Russian artillery.
He believes Russian drone operators do not care what they hit — in a conflict where total Ukrainian military casualties are suspected to be between 60-100,000, according to a June report from the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The same report estimates another 300,000 Ukrainian civilians have either been injured or killed since the war began in 2022.
"They don't care what kind of vehicle is moving," Andrii told 7.30.
"There are many cases where drones hit civilian cars. Even if the car has evacuation mission markings, showing it's civilian and unarmed, they still strike those vehicles.
"Last week a civilian car was driving in front of our team, and it was hit. Everyone survived, but the point is — they don't care who they're attacking."
That is just one fear for Andrii, who endures a tense one-hour wait as the rescue is carried out.
The death of his friends is a very real possibility.
But when the armoured car Mykola and Yevhen are travelling in emerges onto the dirt road from one of the most deadly areas of Ukraine, Andrii becomes noticeably more relaxed.
Mykola lights up a cigarette as he gets out of the car and he and Yevhen appear almost nonchalant before he describes what the pair just endured in the settlement of Mezhova.
"They [Russia] constantly monitor the road with reconnaissance drones, constantly track the movement of vehicles and equipment," Mykola said.
"If there are more than two vehicles, they immediately come under targeting."
On the day 7.30 joined the operation local residents in Mezhova were shelled again, and getting them out is very difficult.
Rescued but left with nothing
Despite the difficulty Mykola and Yevhen still rescued a husband and wife stuck in a village near Dobropillia, that has repeatedly come under attack from Russia.
The man they have pulled from the village has had both legs amputated and needs to be carried into the bus that will take them to an evacuation centre.
The couple had lived in the area their entire lives, and the emotional agony of having to abandon their home is written across their faces.
"I feel like I've become homeless. I have nothing.?No apartment, no children, no one. And no legs," the rescued man told 7.30.
"Drones are flying and bombing, so people are evacuating.?Only two people are left on our street.?There are about seven people left in the whole village."
Despite the carnage there he is filled with hope the war will end.
"We believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and our president,?that we'll have enough Ukrainian wisdom to resolve all this, the war will end, and we will return," he said as his wife cried beside him.
At the evacuation centre there are more stories of Ukrainians who have left everything behind to escape Russian occupation.
One woman, who has just arrived with her three children, says this is the second time her family has fled their home.
"We're OK. At the moment, we're OK.?We're displaced people from Biletske," she told 7.30.
"Biletske is destroyed.?We had two apartments there and?they burned down.?Drones are flying,?it's impossible to live there anymore."
Before that the woman and her children were forced to evacuate the Dnipropetrovsk region.
She remains hopeful that despite many seeing no end to Putin's war this will be the last time she is forced to uproot her children and make a dash for safety.
"At the moment, we're doing okay, we've gathered ourselves a little.?We hope this is our last move."
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