It has been described as the most significant government advance in the long-running civil war.
But the humanitarian crisis has worsened, with thousands fleeing the country's second-largest city.
A baby cries against the backdrop of falling bombs in the distance, but there is relief among these civilians as they flee eastern Aleppo.
"We thank the Syrian army and our president, Bashar al-Assad," this elderly man cries.
He claims rebels tried to stop him and his family from leaving the besieged city.
The speed of the government advance on eastern Aleppo has surprised many.
It is estimated 10 neighbourhoods have now been recaptured, up to one-third of the city's rebel-held east.
BBC defence analyst Jonathan Marcus says it represents a significant power shift in the battle for control of a city that has been so crucial in nearly six years of civil war.
"It would be hugely symbolic as a victory for the government forces. It would show that President Assad is not just consolidating his power but is able, actually, to go onto the offensive and retake territory. But, secondly, of course, it significantly weakens the opposition. It would leave the major centres in the government's hands, and it would really underscore the fact that, with Russian and Iranian help, President Assad has now become a fixture. This really would underscore the fact that Mr Assad seems very much to be staying for the immediate future."
But the human cost of the fighting continues to mount as neighbourhoods come under constant attack.
It is estimated more than a quarter of a million people are still in east Aleppo, with little access to food, water and medicine.
An obstetrician named Fereda works in an underground medical centre: "There are so many, many, many, many casualties here, and some people have died, and there are amputations, and there is no paediatrician and no incubation. People in the street are talking to themselves, and they are going to be crazy. No-one here in Aleppo has a full mind."
The Red Cross's Pavel Shosheck says aid agencies are ready to help those able to get out of the city's east.
"They are arriving in the collective shelters on the western side of the city where, since yesterday, the International Red Crescent has been providing, with the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) support, has been providing humanitarian aid to them. The most important humanitarian concern for all the organisations, including the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, is to ensure that the basic needs of these people are met."
But amid the ferocious fighting, getting aid into eastern Aleppo is proving a challenge.
United Nations humanitarian coordinator Ramesh Rajasingham says, with freezing winter conditions setting in, help is vital.
"There's no more humanitarian food left in east Aleppo. So that's why it's very important that we try and get assistance in there as soon as possible. We have received a written approval from the armed groups. They will guarantee our security to get in, to get up to the front line. We've also had a verbal approval, a verbal support, from the Russian side -- in principle, that is. Once we get that formal approval, then we are ready to move very rapidly to provide assistance into eastern Aleppo."
And while the Syrian military and its backers are on the ascendency, Jonathan Marcus, the defence analyst, warns there could be far more bloodshed to come in Aleppo.
"We don't know what's going to happen to those people who the government forces capture. That could be a grisly outcome, for all we know. So it's a very uncertain situation, but certainly not one in human terms, I think, that anybody would relish."
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