Damascus is a tale of two cities. On the one side, buildings stand tall, divided by neat rows of flowering trees. On the other, a vision of hell.

In the government-controlled west people attend work, school and dinner parties in the evening. In besieged rebel-held Eastern Ghouta just a few hundred yards away, they hide in basements waiting for the next air strike.

The military siege of the eastern suburb of the capital, which is home to nearly 400,000 residents, began in 2013 and has become the longest and most brutal in modern history.

For the last five years the 40sqm enclave has been pummeled by Syrian regime and more recently Russian bombs, in an attempt to dislodge the opposition from its most important stronghold and protect President Bashar al-Assad’s seat of power.

Satellite imagery captured last week by McKenzie Intelligence and shared with the Telegraph lays bare for the first time the sheer level of destruction in Eastern Ghouta.