Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine is the birthplace of one of the world’s most popular carols.

But this year there are few signs of Christmas in the city. There was just deserted streets and snow on skeletal buildings, and the constant sound of heavy shelling.

Pokrovsk is Russia’s next target. Its troops are now less than two miles (three kilometers) from the city center.

It wasn’t just buildings and homes that were destroyed. Ukraine accuses Russia of also trying to erase its cultural identity, including its connection to the famous carol.

Most of Pokrovsk’s residents have fled. Natural gas supplies have been cut off, and many homes are without power or water. Those who remain, like 59-year-old Ihor, are left to break through cover in search of the most basic necessities. He said it was like living on a powder keg – you never know when or where the next shell will land.

Oksana, 43, said she was too scared to leave her home, but during lulls in shelling she went out in search of wood and coal to stay warm.

She told me she hoped the Ukrainian armed forces would be able to hold the city, but she thought that was unlikely. Pokrovsk might fall, she said.

The city was prepared for the worst. A statue of famous composer Mikola Leontovich has been removed. The music school that bears his name is now boarded up and empty.

Leontovich may not be well known in the West. But the tunes he composed are world-famous for their crisp vocals. Leontovich is thought to have composed an early score of the work based on Ukrainian folk chants while living and working in Pokrovsk between 1904 and 1908.

In Ukraine it is called Shedrick. To most of the world, the song is known as “Carol of the Bells” after American composer Peter Wilhousky wrote the English lyrics for the song. The tune’s popularity was boosted by its use in the Hollywood film Home Alone.

Viktoria Ametova called it “a masterpiece – an iconic song of Pokrovsk”. Until recently, she taught music at a school in the city named after Leontovich.

She has now moved to the relative safety of Dnipro. Many former residents of Pokrovsk are still here trying to preserve the memory of their former homeland.

Beneath a salvaged portrait of Leontovich, Victoria watches 13-year-old Anna Hasich strum familiar carol chords on the piano.

The Hasich family fled Pokrovsk this summer. But they are determined not to forget the place they still call home. Anna’s mother Yulia said she was happy to see her daughters practicing Shchedryk. “We will not forget the history of our town,” she said.

For Anna, the song evokes memories. “When I play with it at home, it looks happy. It reminds me of winter and Christmas,” she said. “It’s more of a sad song to me now because it reminds me of home and I really want to go back.”

But for a Ukrainian military band Shchedryk has become a song that inspires resistance. They even played in the trenches – using weapons as makeshift instruments.

They may be musicians, but their commander reminds me that they are soldiers first. All spent time on the front lines. Colonel Bohdan Zadorozhny, the band leader and conductor, said the song helps boost the morale of the soldiers. “These beats and rhythms lift people up on the front lines and inspire them to fight,” he said.

Roman, 22, uses a rocket launcher shell filled with rice and shakes it violently to the beat of music. Shchedryk, he said, is “the pride of our country, it is freedom, it is in our souls and this song gives me goosebumps”.

Colonel Zadorozhny said that Shedrik showed that Ukraine is a civilized country but is now at war and fighting for its identity.

Pokrovsk is likely to fall into Russian hands. But its people are doing everything they can to protect their culture and identity.

Angelina Rozhkova, director of the Pokrovsk Historical Museum, has rescued much of the precious collection and moved it to safe places, including Leontovich’s in Pokrovsk Artifacts of life in Fusk.

Russia not only wants to occupy Ukrainian territory, she said, “it also wants to destroy our culture and everything that is precious to us.”

Angelina said the people of Pokrovsk understand they may never go back, “but our hearts and souls do not accept this”. Therefore, they are doing everything they can to preserve the past. The new motto is “Preservation and Saving, Equals Victory”.

It’s hard to say you’ve won when your city is destroyed. But its people, like Leontovich’s music, have shown remarkable resilience.

Leontovich’s life ended abruptly in 1921 when he was shot dead by Soviet agents. His work has become a symbol of Ukraine’s struggle for independence. This is still true.

Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous and Anastasiia Levchenko