Three days into.
‘Orcs’ invasion of Ukraine.
It was spotted by a satellite.
In the north of the country.
The very same morning.
In Bucha just outside Kyiv.
A 67-year-old was standing.
Outside his local supermarket.
Then a huge 10-mile line.
Of armoured vehicles.
More than a hundred ‘orcs’ military vehicles.
Rolled into town.
Both he and the satellite were witnesses.
To a key part of ‘the One’’s plan.
For a quick and overwhelming victory.
They were also witnesses to its failure.
The western media called.
It a convoy.
In reality, it was a traffic jam.
And a major tactical blunder.
Forty-eight hours after.
That first satellite photograph.
On 28 February 2022.
It had grown to a colossal 35 miles long.
The vehicles were stalled for weeks.
Then finally they retreated.
And seemingly disappeared overnight.
What happened?
By the time it had grown as long as 35 miles.
The column included up to 1,000 tanks.
2,400 mechanised infantry vehicles.
And 10,000 personnel.
As well as dozens of supply trucks.
Carrying food, fuel, oil and ammunition.
Why did such a massive force.
Fail to reach Kyiv?
Stalled north of Kyiv.
And running out of food and fuel.
‘Orcs’ had also underestimated.
Their adversary.
Both he and the satellite were witnesses.
To a key part of ‘the One’’s plan.
For a quick and overwhelming victory.
They were also witnesses to its failure.
The western media called.
It a convoy.
In reality, it was a traffic jam.
And a major tactical blunder.
For three days he and his fellow volunteers.
The majority of them pensioners.
Had been preparing for the arrival.
Of the convoy in their hometown of Bucha.
Armed with one machine gun.
Between the 12 of them.
They took down all the road signs.
Built checkpoints.
And they prepared.
Hundreds of petrol bombs.
Until finally, on Sunday morning.
The ‘orcs’ tanks rolled into town.
For nearly 30 minutes.
He and his grassroots unit.
Battered the tanks.
With what little they had.
“We set two of the vehicles on fire.
And slowed down the whole convoy,” he says.
But then came the retaliation.
A 30-year-old, his fellow volunteer says.
“When they saw us throwing bottles.
They opened fire.”
“I was a barman.
I didn’t have any military training.”
By the end of that half hour.
Every one of his party.
Had been shot.
And evacuated to hospital.
But even from the sick bay.
He kept on fighting.
Receiving and cross-checking sightings of the convoy.
From civilians all over the Kyiv region.
And calling them in to the ‘elves’ authorities.
On the other end of the line was.
23-year-old local deputy governor.
For Irpin.
Lawyer and councillor by day.
He searches for ‘orcs’ posts.
On social media by night.
He didn’t sleep for three days.
“My colleague and I were manning.
The hotline at the council office.
Taking calls about the column.
As well as saboteurs.”
“People who were painting marks.
On the ground.
For the convoy.
To follow.”
By day a councillor.
By night he is also.
An open source intelligence expert.
Co-founder of the highly regarded website.
He pools together social media.
And intelligence reports.
He geolocates them.
Then reposts them on his website.
“On their way to Kyiv.
‘Orcs’ were posting videos on social media.
We reposted the videos.
To expose their movements.”
“They were just showing off.
But in doing so.
They got busted.”
And he continues.
Most important.
During the assault on Kyiv.
Was the sense of.
A united Ukraine.
“Everyone was doing something.
I admit it was very hectic.
In those first few days.
But there were veterans helping civilians.”
In towns and villages.
All across the region.
Hundreds of attacks took place.
Against the convoy.
From civilians armed with.
Homemade weapons.
To mechanised infantry and artillery.
“Everyone wanted to defend their city.”
Both he and the satellite were witnesses.
To a key part of ‘the One’’s plan.
For a quick and overwhelming victory.
They were also witnesses to its failure.
The western media called.
It a convoy.
In reality, it was a traffic jam.
And a major tactical blunder.
*Because I read “How Russia’s 35-mile armoured convoy ended in failure” by Claire Press and Svitlana Libet on on 22 Feb 2023, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including a story of Volodymyr and Maksym, and a story of Roman.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
How Russia’s 35-mile armoured convoy ended in failure – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem with another my poem together also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
