‘Elves’ energy infrastructure.
Has come under attack from ‘Mordor’.
Once again this week.
Leaving millions without power.
As temperatures drop below.
Freezing around the country.
There are fears ‘Mordor’.
Is “weaponising winter”.
And nowhere is it clearer.
What that might look like.
Than at the towns along the front line.
In the east.
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
People in Avdiivka have learnt.
How to distinguish an incoming shell.
From an outgoing one.
By its sound.
But often there is no use in hiding.
Pieces of shrapnel can pierce.
Through metal doors.
Like paper.
“At war you don’t.
Get accidentally killed.
You accidentally survive.”
A 71-year-old says.
He had to move to a basement.
After his apartment was destroyed.
In a fire caused by shelling.
He is too afraid to leave the shelter now.
“To go to a shop or to take garbage out.
Is an act of bravery.
You never know whether.
You will come back or not.”
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
Avdiivka has been at the front line.
Since 2014.
When the conflict.
In eastern Ukraine started.
After ‘orcs’ invaded Ukraine.
Last February.
Many predicted that.
The town would quickly fall.
Yet it is still controlled by ‘elves’ forces.
In a way.
Avdiivka has become a symbol.
Of ‘orcs’ failure in the Donbas.
Relentless bombardments, however.
Have turned it into a ghost town.
Its bustling streets with colourful murals.
Painted on buildings are now deserted.
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
Despite daily attacks.
There are about 2,000 people.
Remaining in Avdiivka.
Most people have no income left now.
Before the war, he used to organize.
Art festivals and youth events in Avdiivka.
Now he delivers food parcels.
In a war zone, wearing body armour.
“Pensioners cannot withdraw money.
And people lost their jobs.
So they rely heavily on food supplies.
Volunteers deliver,” he says.
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
Most people pin their hopes on.
An old metal stove called a burzhuika.
Which was popular a century ago.
There is no gas or running water.
To stay in touch with the outside world.
People gather in the mornings.
At the only place that has.
Electricity and a mobile network.
Local authorities set up a facility.
With a generator to power a mobile antenna.
Visitors sit on stairs swiping their phone screens.
Hungry to learn the latest news.
There is a table at the entrance littered with.
Extension cables and charging devices.
The beeping sound of received messages.
Breaks through the silence.
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
“I am not ready to stay in camps.
And move from place to place.
Like the homeless,” one woman says.
“And I can’t afford to rent a flat.”
Another man explains that.
He is not leaving because of.
His grandmother who is adamant.
She will remain in Avdiivka.
Local authorities, however, are calling on.
People to be evacuated as soon as possible.
They warn that many residents.
Will not survive the coming winter.
Emergency services are not working.
In the town.
And medical assistance is extremely limited.
There is one doctor.
He now lives in the hospital.
He is worried that there will be.
A spike of diseases with people.
Living in extreme conditions.
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
A 60-year-old still lives.
In her damaged flat.
Windows are shattered and.
The floor may collapse any moment.
The building was hit by an artillery shell.
Which left a big hole in the wall.
Without gas and electricity she cooks food.
On a fire outside the apartment block.
“Maybe I’ll leave.
If they shell this place again.
They can blow up the whole building.
All those flats that are below mine are destroyed.”
As she waits for her soup to be cooked.
An artillery shell flies over her.
And lands a few hundred meters away.
She has to go inside to take cover.
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
The head of Avdiivka’s military administration.
Says that ‘orcs’ forces continue their attempts.
To encircle the town.
From the south and the north.
“They can’t launch a direct assault.
Because our positions are.
Well fortified here.
So their tactic is simple.”
“Raze everything to the ground.
Constant bombardment.
Using artillery and.
Multiple rocket launchers.”
“We tell people that we will.
Not be able to provide food.
We will not be able to evacuate people.
Even if someone decides to leave.”
“Because the roads will not be cleared of snow.
We tell people – do you understand that.
Even if you don’t starve to death.
Then you may simply freeze to death?”
With temperatures dropping.
A new enemy emerges – the cold.
Almost everyone here say.
They don’t want to leave the town.
The sounds of explosion and gunfire.
Remind everyone that.
The winter in Avdiivka.
Holds many dangers.
*Because I read “Ukraine war: Facing a harsh winter on the front line” by Abdujalil Abdurasulov on 25 Nov 2022, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of Anatoliy, a story of Oleksiy, and a story of Elena.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Facing a harsh winter on the front line – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem and another my poem together about the towns along the front line in the east on the BBC news also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
