The Ukrainian hamlet of Robotyne, in the province of Zaporizhzhia, occupies about three square kilometres and is, or was, home to just 70-odd people. But in Europe’s bitter, attritional, inch-by-inch land war, no village is too small to have its moment in the global spotlight.

The Ukrainian military first trained its sights on Robotyne back in June, as part of its summer counter-offensive against the Russian invasion. To much international fanfare this week, the village’s recapture was at last apparently pulled off.