The best way to come back alive.
Is to stay low.
Hugging the ground.
And skimming the treetops.
Too low and you can be shot down.
By machine gun fire.
Too high and you can be detected.
By enemy air defence systems.
For helicopter pilots.
In war-time Ukraine.
There is little margin for error.
Just ask him.
He has flown countless combat missions.
For Ukraine’s Sikorsky Brigade.
And been decorated for valour.
His age is 34.
“The closer to the target.
The lower we fly.
It’s one or two metres.
Above ground.”
“It’s not enough just to strike the target.
You have to come back safe.
And bring your crew and helicopter back.
Safely for the next mission.”
Over the past year.
Some of his fellow pilots.
Have not made it back.
Now he takes off for his latest sortie.
His helicopter is followed.
By two others;
Their blades slice the air.
Beneath a muddy grey sky.
Below them an ‘elves’ trench.
Zigzags across.
The landscape.
And a village lies deserted.
They speed across a frozen lake.
As if skating on ice.
Half an hour later they return.
Having unleashed 80 missiles.
He comes in to land.
Circling low enough over your heads.
For you to see him wave.
From the window.
The best way to come back alive.
Is to stay low.
Hugging the ground.
And skimming the treetops.
Too low and you can be shot down.
By machine gun fire.
Too high and you can be detected.
By enemy air defence systems.
For helicopter pilots.
In war-time Ukraine.
There is little margin for error.
Just ask him.
He’s renowned among fellow airmen.
In his brigade for executing difficult manoeuvres.
An ‘elf’ top gun.
In an ageing Soviet aircraft.
His Mi-8 helicopter is.
About as old as he is.
And lacks heavy armour.
Or modern warning systems about incoming missiles.
Every mission could be his last.
“Of course, there is some risk.”
He says after touching down.
“I just don’t think about this.”
“If it happens.
It will not be my problem.
It will be a problem.
For my relatives.”
It sounds like a joke.
But his expression.
Is concealed.
By his balaclava.
He will not disclose his target.
But chances are it was close.
To the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Which ‘orcs’ are battling to encircle.
“It was just an ordinary mission.
You concentrate 100% on your task.
You think of your guys.
Waiting for you on the ground.”
“They are really striving.
If they call for aviation.”
What he doesn’t think about is.
The ‘orcs’ troops on the receiving end.
“If they came here with war.
We are just protecting our country.
We are not aggressors.
We are the victim.”
“And if to win this war.
We should kill ‘orcs’ soldiers.
We are ready.
To kill them all.”
The best way to come back alive.
Is to stay low.
Hugging the ground.
And skimming the treetops.
Too low and you can be shot down.
By machine gun fire.
Too high and you can be detected.
By enemy air defence systems.
For helicopter pilots.
In war-time Ukraine.
There is little margin for error.
Just ask him.
As soon as the helicopters land.
Maintenance crews converge.
Refuelling and rearming the aircraft.
To be ready for the next flight.
The missiles are loaded by hand.
One is inscribed.
With a crude message.
To ‘orcs’ troops.
Within minutes.
He has co-ordinates.
For a new target.
And is wheels up again.
He says Ukraine can’t win this war.
With the Soviet equipment it’s got.
A spokesman for his brigade.
Spells it out.
“We need new helicopters.
With navigation equipment.
High precision weapons and ammunition.
We need everything.”
The best way to come back alive.
Is to stay low.
Hugging the ground.
And skimming the treetops.
Too low and you can be shot down.
By machine gun fire.
Too high and you can be detected.
By enemy air defence systems.
For helicopter pilots.
In war-time Ukraine.
There is little margin for error.
Just ask him.
When ‘the One’ invaded last year.
He was part of.
An ‘elves’ peacekeeping mission.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Now this former peacekeeper sees.
A danger of endless conflict with ‘Mordor’.
“Just look back at our history.
We have always had problems with our neighbour.”
“When we win this one.
If they don’t change.
They will come back to attack us again.
In years or in decades.”
The best way to come back alive.
Is to stay low.
Hugging the ground.
And skimming the treetops.
Too low and you can be shot down.
By machine gun fire.
Too high and you can be detected.
By enemy air defence systems.
For helicopter pilots.
In war-time Ukraine.
There is little margin for error.
Just ask him.
*Because I read “Ukraine war: The renowned airman fighting from a low-flying helicopter” by Orla Guerin on 27 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 as a story of Roman.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: The renowned airman fighting from a low-flying helicopter – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Kurama (Japan). «A poet staying low» — a poem about war in Ukraine – Мала Сторінка (storinka.org)
Please join them!
