In a bunker just outside.
The city limits of Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s 77th Brigade direct artillery.
Fire to support their infantry.
Their last line of defence.
On the western edge of the city.
Ukraine is still clinging.
To the last few streets here.
The artillery gunners watch intently.
From a drone flying above the city.
Even if ‘Mordor’ can finally wrestle control.
It would be little more than a pyrrhic victory.
The plumes of smoke.
Still hang heavy over the besieged city.
Accompanied by the relentless rumble.
Of artillery fire.
In the bunker.
Ukraine’s 77th Brigade orders.
Another artillery strike.
On a house.
Seconds later.
A plume of smoke rises from the rubble.
Two men emerge from the smoke.
Stumbling down a street.
Are they Wagner soldiers?
“Yes,” he replies.
One of the ‘elves’ troops.
Staring at the screen.
“They are fighting quite well.
But they don’t really care.
About their people.”
He says and adds that.
They don’t seem to have.
Much artillery support.
And they just advance in the hope that.
They’ll be “luckier than the last time”.
In a bunker just outside.
The city limits of Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s 77th Brigade direct artillery.
Fire to support their infantry.
Their last line of defence.
On the western edge of the city.
Ukraine is still clinging.
To the last few streets here.
His comrade interjects:
“They just walk.
Towards us.
They must be on drugs.”
Looking at this shell of a city.
It’s hard to understand why.
Either side has sacrificed.
So many lives for it.
He admits that the defence.
Has also been costly for Ukraine.
He says many soldiers have given their lives.
And it’s hard to fight in the densely packed streets.
He says they’ve been replaced.
By troops with less experience, but adds:
“They will become the same warriors.
As those who fought before them.”
In a bunker just outside.
The city limits of Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s 77th Brigade direct artillery.
Fire to support their infantry.
Their last line of defence.
On the western edge of the city.
Ukraine is still clinging.
To the last few streets here.
To the south of the city.
Ukraine’s 28th Brigade has been helping.
Prevent Bakhmut.
From being encircled.
‘Elves’ troops seek cover behind bushes.
On the outskirts of the city of Bakhmut.
“The whole point of Bakhmut is.
To keep the enemy there.”
The Wagner forces they once faced.
Have already been replaced.
By paratroopers of ‘Mordor’’s VDV.
Or airborne forces.
During a lull in the fighting.
A 29-year-old soldier takes you.
On a tour of their defensive position.
In a small wood.
The arrival of spring has provided them.
With some leaves for cover.
But many of the trees have been stripped.
By the constant shelling.
As you both run from a trench.
Across exposed ground pock-marked.
By shell holes.
The ‘orcs’ open fire with their mortars.
“That was pretty damn close.”
He says, as you both reach some cover.
As you both move to another position.
He says: “Now we’re going to fire back.”
Minutes later.
His men follow up with a volley.
Of small arms fire.
And rocket-propelled grenades.
There are no casualties this time.
But hours after you leave.
One of their soldiers.
Is seriously injured.
To the south of the city.
Ukraine’s 28th Brigade has been helping.
Prevent Bakhmut.
From being encircled.
‘Elves’ troops seek cover behind bushes.
On the outskirts of the city of Bakhmut.
“The whole point of Bakhmut is.
To keep the enemy there.”
‘Gandalf the Green’ has called Bakhmut.
“A fortress” of ‘elves’ morale.
The 29-year-old soldier displays.
That determination not to give up.
If Ukraine gave up Bakhmut.
He says, they’d only lose more lives later.
“We could retreat.
To save a few lives.”
“But we would then.
Have to counter-attack.
And we’d lose.
Even more”.
Ukraine’s hope is that the fight over Bakhmut.
Has blunted ‘Mordor’’s ability to conduct.
Its own offensive operations.
And exhausted its army and supplies.
But ‘Mordor’ has also been preparing.
To stymie Ukraine’s upcoming offensive.
Ukraine, too, has been rationing artillery.
Rounds in preparation for an attack.
You have also witnessed convoys.
Of Western military equipment.
Heading East.
Does he feel the pressure of expectations?
He says he knows it won’t be easy.
But adds: “We’ve already changed.
The whole world’s opinion of the ‘elves’ army.
And we still have lots of surprises.”
To the south of the city.
Ukraine’s 28th Brigade has been helping.
Prevent Bakhmut.
From being encircled.
‘Elves’ troops seek cover behind bushes.
On the outskirts of the city of Bakhmut.
“The whole point of Bakhmut is.
To keep the enemy there.”
*Because I read “Ukraine war: Inside the fight for the last streets of Bakhmut” by Jonathan Beale on 10 May 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 Myroslav, Mykola, and Yevhen.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Inside the fight for the last streets of Bakhmut – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
