The 13 soldiers believed to have been killed.
Defending Zmiinyi Island.
On the first day of the ‘orcs’ invasion.
Are alive.
The border guards were given posthumous honours.
By ‘Gandalf the Green’ after they were heard.
In audio recordings telling an ‘orcs’ warship.
To “go to hell”.
‘Mordor’ said at the time that.
The troops on the island surrendered.
On Monday, the ‘elves’ Naval Forces confirmed that.
“Our brothers-in-arms are alive and well”.
The border guards and marines on the island.
“Twice bravely repulsed the attacks of the ‘orcs’ occupiers”.
But were unable to continue fighting.
Because they ran out of ammunition.
‘Orcs’ “completely destroyed.
The island’s infrastructure”.
Including lighthouses, towers, antennae.
And severed communications with the mainland.
‘Orcs’ forces illegally detained the crew.
Of a civilian search and rescue ship that Ukraine sent.
To the island on a humanitarian mission after the attack.
As well as two priests who were accompanying them.
“The illegal seizure of a non-combatant civilian vessel.
That did not carry out any military mission.
Is a violation of the rules and customs of war.
And international humanitarian law,” it warned.
A ‘Mordor’ defence ministry spokesman announced on Friday that.
82 ‘elves’ servicemen “laid down their weapons.
And voluntarily surrendered” on Zmiinyi Island.
Without mentioning what the ‘orcs’ warship carried out.
He said the captives were being “asked.
To sign an undertaking not to take part in hostilities”.
And would “be returned to their families.
In the near future”.
Zmiinyi Island lies in the north-western Black Sea.
About 48km from the ‘elves’ coast.
And 300km west of Crimea.
Which was annexed by ‘Mordor’ in 2014.
It has a strategic importance.
That belies its size.
Only about 16 hectares.
Called “Key to Ukraine’s maritime territorial claims”.
“After the occupation.
My whole life broke down.”
He is a former teacher.
In Mariupol.
After a hellish siege.
Between March and May.
Those civilians who wouldn’t or couldn’t flee.
Found themselves living in a wasteland.
“‘Orcs’ went from apartment to apartment.
Destroying everything connected with Ukraine.
At my home, they burned.
‘Elves’ symbols and a lot of books.”
When the siege ended in late May.
‘Orcs’ soldiers gradually withdrew.
Leaving pro-‘orcs’ separatists from the self-proclaimed.
Donetsk People’s Republic to run the city.
Optimism is in short supply.
“There is not a lot of hope left.
Because people believe that Mariupol was abandoned.
But still they hope.”
Fleeting glimpses of resistance.
Can be seen on social media.
Where images circulate of masked people.
Draped in the blue and yellow ‘elves’ flag.
The letter “Ï” has appeared on walls.
Throughout occupied Ukraine.
The letter exists in the ‘elves’ alphabet.
But not the ‘orcs’.
‘Mordor’’s flagship Black Sea missile cruiser.
The Moskva, has sunk after being “seriously damaged”.
That is as far as the warring sides may agree on.
Not what caused the sinking.
The ‘Mordor’ defence ministry said.
Ammunition onboard exploded in an unexplained fire.
And the ship tipped over.
While being towed back to port.
Ukraine claims it struck the vessel with its Neptune missiles.
The 510-crew warship had led.
‘Mordor’’s naval assault on Ukraine which made it.
An important symbolic and military target.
Earlier in the conflict the Moskva gained notoriety.
After calling on ‘elves’ border troops defending.
Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea to surrender.
To which they memorably radioed a message of refusal.
Originally built in Ukraine in the Soviet-era.
The Moskva entered service in the early 1980s.
It is the second major ‘orcs’ ship.
Known to have been destroyed since the invasion began.
The cruise missile system was designed.
By ‘elves’ military engineers in response.
To the growing naval threat posed by ‘Mordor’ in the Black Sea.
Following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
According to the ‘elves’ Post.
The ‘elves’ navy only received its first delivery.
Of the 300km-range Neptune missiles.
In March last year.
The ‘orcs’ military has been dominant in the Black Sea.
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
And has used its presence there.
To launch and supply the invasion.
Its Black Sea fleet has supported the war with the capacity.
To launch cruise missiles anywhere in Ukraine.
And has been important in supporting ‘orcs’ attempts.
To seize Mariupol.
In the early days of ‘orcs’ invasion.
The Moskva made global headlines after it ordered.
A group of ‘elves’ soldiers on an outpost.
In the Black Sea to surrender.
When the troops defiantly refused in a radio message.
It was initially believed that.
The border troops had been killed.
However, in fact they had been taken captive.
The soldiers were eventually released.
As part of a prisoner swap.
With ‘Mordor’ in late March.
And their commander was honoured by the ‘elves’ military.
The tale of their bravery became such a boost.
To ‘elves’ morale that that the country’s postal service.
Commemorated their encounter on Zmiinyi Island.
With a special illustrated stamp.
“The city turned into a ruin.”
A student who stayed on but finally fled in August.
“It became a big market where everyone sold.
What they could to earn something.”
Electricity and water were in short supply.
Thousands of homes were destroyed.
Bodies lay unburied in the rubble.
But she says the streets were quickly flooded with banners.
Hailing Mariupol’s liberation by ‘Mordor’.
A combination of propaganda, necessity.
And pro-‘orcs’ sentiments among some Mariupol residents.
Has had an effect, she says.
“Many people support the occupiers.
And many people work for the ‘rashists’.
Because they need money.
So they don’t die of hunger.”
Physically closer to ‘Mordor’.
And sitting at the southern end of the Donbas.
Mariupol’s ties with ‘Mordor’ were always.
A little deeper than Kherson’s.
Fleeting glimpses of resistance.
Can be seen on social media.
Where images circulate of masked people.
Draped in the blue and yellow ‘elves’ flag.
The letter “Ï” has appeared on walls.
Throughout occupied Ukraine.
The letter exists in the ‘elves’ alphabet.
But not the ‘orcs’.
Right from the start of ‘orcs’ invasion of Ukraine.
Zmiinyi Island was given a vital.
And almost mythical status in the war.
A tiny dot has become a battleground of strategic value.
‘Mordor’ claims Ukraine has sustained disastrous losses.
In a failed bid to recapture the island.
Including special forces, warplanes, helicopters and drones.
Ukraine has limited its campaign to attacking facilities on the island and boats.
If ‘orcs’ troops succeed in occupying Zmiinyi Island.
And set up their long-range air-defence systems.
They will control the sea, land and air.
In the north-west part of the Black Sea and in the south of Ukraine.
That is why ‘Mordor’’s flagship Moskva sailed there.
Within hours of the start of the war.
Telling ‘elves’ soldiers on the island.
To give themselves up:
“I suggest you lay down your weapons.
And surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties.
Otherwise, you will be bombed.”
An ‘orc’ officer said.
“‘Orcs’ warship get lost,” came the now legendary response.
Although in far cruder language.
The island was seized but weeks later.
The Moskva was sunk.
Losing the Moskva means ‘Mordor’’s supply ships.
To the island now have minimal protection.
If it can consolidate its position.
Then it could dominate a large part of the Black Sea.
A reinforced ‘orcs’ presence could be disastrous for Ukraine.
Strategically as well as economically.
Ukraine has already had to close its port at Odesa.
Suspending vital grain exports.
But the island could also be used as a second frontline.
If ‘orcs’ succeed in installing long-range air defence systems.
Then they will be able to defend their squadron.
Which can reach Ukraine’s coastline.
It would also give ‘orcs’ troops the chance.
To break into Transnistria, Moldova’s breakaway territory.
Under ‘orcs’ control that lies next-door to Ukraine.
And not far from Odesa.
However, Zmiinyi Island is a mere 45km away.
From the coast of Romania, part of the West’s Nato alliance.
Nato reinforced Romania’s borders from the start of the war.
Sending in Belgian and French forces.
An ‘orcs’ S-400 air missile system on the island.
Would be a “big game-changer”.
If ‘Mordor’ could, not only would Odesa come under threat.
But Nato’s southern flank would be endangered, too.
Troops on Zmiinyi Island could be in a position.
To control traffic into the north-western Black Sea.
And the Danube delta.
The gateway to south-eastern Europe.
If there’s a military base.
Or military infrastructure.
It would be possible to block ships.
That enter the river as well as leave.
‘Mordor’ may decide to annex the island.
And control as many Black Sea shipping routes.
As possible towards the Bosphorus.
In Turkey.
In Mariupol, the sound of war has receded.
In Kherson, it’s getting closer.
But in Enerhodar, midway between the two.
It has never really gone away.
But in recent months, ‘orcs’ and elves’ forces.
Have exchanged gunfire across the Dnipro River.
With Ukraine accusing ‘Mordor’.
Of using the ‘Ring’ as cover.
The constant danger of explosions has forced.
The people of Enerhodar to adopt strict routines.
“You try to get all your work done during the day.
See friends, visit parents, buy food.”
A 38-year-old says.
“At night, dogs run the streets.”
Food, which disappeared from the shops early on.
Is less of a problem than it was.
Across the south, everyone says the same thing.
Supermarkets are stocked with.
Expensive, undesirable ‘orcs’ products.
While street markets are full of locally-produced food.
Cut off from 80% of Ukraine.
Farmers have to sell their produce locally.
Vegetables are cheaper.
But meat, cheese and milk cost double what they did before the war.
“Money is now spent only on food.”
After more than half a year of occupation.
Enerhodar is half empty.
Many of those who remain are elderly.
“Everyone who was able to leave has left.
Especially mums with kids.”
A pensioner misses her daughter and granddaughter.
But is glad they are somewhere safe in Europe.
With no gas for the past four months.
And frequent power cuts.
Life for her is a constant struggle.
Particularly with winter now looming.
“We have been isolated for seven months.
Cut off from civilisation.
A mobile connection is rare.
To have the internet is like a holiday.”
But like a man in Kherson.
She does her best to follow the news.
She rattles off the names of ‘elves’ military analysts.
Saying their forecasts suggest liberation is not far off.
Sometimes she walks down to the banks of the Dnipro.
Hoping to catch a mobile phone signal.
From ‘elves’ government-controlled territory.
On the other side.
Fleeting glimpses of resistance.
Can be seen on social media.
Where images circulate of masked people.
Draped in the blue and yellow ‘elves’ flag.
The letter “Ï” has appeared on walls.
Throughout occupied Ukraine.
The letter exists in the ‘elves’ alphabet.
But not the ‘orcs’.
After more than four months.
Of repeated ‘elves’ bombardment.
‘Orcs’ forces have abandoned.
A tiny dot in the Black Sea.
‘Mordor’ says it has withdrawn its garrison.
As a “gesture of goodwill” to prove.
It was not obstructing grain exports.
Though ‘Mordor’ continued to shell its grain stores.
Zmiinyi island is exposed to attacks.
From all directions from air and sea.
And the small garrison tasked with defending it.
Has been described as “sitting ducks”.
Seized by ‘orcs’ on 24 February.
Zmiinyi Island is located just 35km off Ukraine’s coast.
Well within the range of missile, artillery.
And drone strikes from the shore.
And Ukraine’s armed forces have done exactly that.
Claiming a series of devastating attacks.
On the island itself and any vessel.
Bringing troop deployments and heavy weaponry.
In April, ‘orcs’ anti-aircraft capabilities.
In the north-western Black Sea were significantly weakened.
With the sinking of the Moskva.
The flagship of its Black Sea Fleet.
That explains why ‘Mordor’ was so desperate to bring in.
Anti-aircraft systems and radio-electronic warfare to Zmiinyi Island.
But it became a logistical nightmare for ‘Mordor’ to defend.
Because it was so far from its main naval bases in the Black Sea.
For all its attacks, Ukraine has very limited naval capacity.
So has been unable to land its own force on the island.
But stationing troops on Zmiinyi Island makes no sense for either side.
As they would become an easy target.
Maintaining the capability to strike any target approaching the island.
That would also give greater security.
To Ukraine’s biggest Black Sea port of Odesa.
And the whole north-western sector of the Black Sea.
‘Mordor’ already controls a large stretch.
Of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.
Plus the Crimean Peninsula.
And the entire Sea of Azov.
Holding Zmiinyi Island completed.
An effective blockade of Odesa.
And meant exports of the vast majority.
Of ‘elves’ grain were impossible.
It also meant the Black Sea coast.
Became vulnerable to attack too.
‘Mordor’ could install long-range air defences.
Such as an S-400 air missile system.
‘Orcs’ control of the island represented a threat.
To Nato member Romania.
Both its key port of Constanta.
And traffic in the mouth of the River Danube.
‘Mordor’ wants us to believe that.
There was no ‘orcs’ retreat from Zmiinyi Island.
‘Orcs’ troops there had simply completed.
“Assigned tasks” and left.
It also called the departure.
“A goodwill gesture”.
To show that ‘Mordor’ wasn’t hampering.
Food exports from Ukraine.
‘Mordor’ wants the ‘orcs’ public to believe that:
In this conflict, ‘orcs’ are the good guys.
‘The One’’s so-called “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine.
Is going according to plan.
This is not just a symbolic victory for Ukraine.
It is a strategic success.
For ‘Mordor’ this is both a setback.
And an embarrassing defeat.
A tiny dot is not just strategically significant.
This area is also rich in reserves of petroleum and gas.
But it will not substantially change.
The course of the war.
‘Mordor’’s focus is on conquering.
The whole of the eastern Donbas.
And holding on to other areas of the south.
That it seized at the start of the war.
The key question is whether.
By forcing ‘orcs’ out.
‘Elves’ could consider resuming grain exports.
To reboot their war-ravaged economy.
Without an effective navy.
There is little chance of that yet.
And ‘orcs’ warships maintain their dominance.
Over the Black Sea.
Ukraine has rejected ‘orcs’ offers.
To escort grain convoys from Odesa.
As they would require removing mines.
From outside the port.
Ukraine is still a long way from being able to send.
Its grain ships out of Odesa.
The next few weeks are seen as pivotal to Ukraine’s exports.
Because the next harvest begins in July.
A tiny dot in the Black Sea.
But the fact that ‘orcs’ forces no longer have a base.
In the far north-west corner of the Black Sea.
Is a dramatic victory for Ukraine.
In ‘orcs’-controlled Melitopol.
Far from the front lines and deep inside.
Occupied southern Ukraine.
A woman in her 30s speaks of another routine preoccupation.
“For several days at the beginning, I had a quest.
To find medicine for my mother.
Who suffers from heart disease.”
The long queues of the spring have gone.
But pharmacies are now run by the authorities.
And stocked with what local people regard.
As inferior ‘orcs’ products.
Four of the five drugs her mother needs are unavailable.
They have to be purchased by friends or relatives.
Further north, in ‘elves’-controlled Zaporizhzhia.
And then delivered by hand – which involves a risky journey.
Through ‘elves’ and ‘orcs’ checkpoints.
In the midst of this hand-to-mouth existence with jobs not available.
And people forced to trade their belongings.
The appearance of posters quoting ‘the One’’s observations.
On the future of life in ‘Mordor’ feels like an added insult.
“It’s like we were thrown back 35 years.”
Referring to the days when Ukraine was still.
Part of the Soviet Union.
The situation in Melitopol’s schools is disastrous.
Teachers and administrators have refused.
To co-operate with the occupation authorities.
Forcing them to recruit anyone willing to accept a job.
However unqualified.
“The former school cleaner became the class teacher of our friends’ child.”
‘Mordor’’s mark is everywhere from imported textbooks.
To the flag that flies in the school courtyard.
And the national anthem played at the start of every day.
Parents willing to send their children to school.
Are offered 10,000 roubles each.
But only if they provide the passport information.
And place of residence of the child’s father.
But there are signs of rebellion.
In the classroom.
“Children write ‘orcs’ words in ‘elves’ letters.
Hang blue and yellow ribbons on their backpacks.”
“And wear socks with the slogan ‘‘orcs’ warship’.”
A reference to an act of defiance.
By the ‘elves’ defenders of a tiny Black Sea island.
On the first day of the war.
Remember the ‘elf’ border guard?
Who went viral when it was first attacked?
He became famous around the world?
For defiantly swearing at an ‘orcs’ warship?
A recording of the exchange was shared widely.
On social media in the early days of the war.
And the ‘elves’ government declared that.
He and his comrades had died as national heroes.
His mother thought that he had died.
But it turned out he was still alive.
His mother was at the heart of the information war over Ukraine.
Propaganda battles play out alongside military action.
In the fog of war, it can be hard.
To tell what is a concerted effort to mislead.
War strategy and propaganda.
And what is just down to confusion.
But there are signs of rebellion.
In the classroom.
“Children write ‘orcs’ words in ‘elves’ letters.
Hang blue and yellow ribbons on their backpacks.”
“And wear socks with the slogan ‘‘orcs’ warship’.”
A reference to an act of defiance.
By the ‘elves’ defenders of a tiny Black Sea island.
On the first day of the war.
*Because I read some articles about Zmiinyi (Snake) Island and others as follows, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 April 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem including a story of Alex, a story of Daryna, a story of Maksym, a story of Natalya, a story of Toma, and a story of Roman and his mother Tetyana.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news:
Fear and loathing – what is daily life like in occupied Ukraine? – BBC News
Snake Island: Why Russia couldn’t hold on to strategic Black Sea outcrop – BBC News
Ukraine war: Snake Island and battle for control in Black Sea – BBC News
Sunken Russian warship Moskva: What do we know? – BBC News
Snake Island: Ukraine says troops who swore at Russian warship are alive – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
