The ‘elves’ flag is placed.
On a building in Blahodatne.
One of the villages Ukraine says.
It has recaptured from ‘Mordor’.
Troops are launching.
Probing attacks.
While most of ‘elves’ forces are.
Being held in reserve.
Waiting for a big enough opening.
In ‘orcs’ defences.
To launch a main attack.
And try to recapture land.
The fighting has been hard.
With heavy casualties on both sides.
‘Elves’ advance in southern Donetsk.
Has stuttered, but continues.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
In their sights.
Were a series of trenches.
Protecting ‘orcs’ forces.
On nearby hilltops.
The men of a specialised drone unit.
Grab cameras.
Roll cables.
And load a pickup truck.
With tins of ammunition.
Crates of smoke grenades.
And armour-piercing rounds.
In Blahodatne.
Aside from them.
There’s little sign of life.
There are more of two mine-resistant vehicles.
Disabled in the fields beyond.
Down a lane.
The wreckage of two heavily armoured.
American-made MRAP vehicles.
Lie stranded, one a burnt-out shell.
“Steer clear of those.
The ‘orcs’ keep hitting them.”
‘Mordor’ has made much of the losses.
Of Western-donated tanks and vehicles.
Even as ‘the One’ admitted.
It has lost dozens of tanks.
Since the counter-offensive began.
On 5 June.
Troops are attacking at three points:
Bakhmut.
South of Zaporizhzhia.
And in southern Donetsk.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
Blahodatne is one of those.
Another salvo comes in.
And the soldiers take cover.
In the cellar of a ruined house.
A dirt floor passageway is lit with oil lamps.
Casting soft yellow light down its length.
To a stone and iron stove.
With three sturdy pots atop.
Towels hang from a washing line.
A rough wooden door opens.
And, in a headscarf.
She emerges.
She has been living down.
Here for the past year.
‘Orcs’ soldiers came.
By only once, she says.
She never, for a second.
Considered leaving the village.
She refused to leave Blahodatne.
The artillery barrage over.
You leave through a lane.
At the end of her house.
Three ‘orcs’ corpses lie in a ditch.
Just beyond her vegetable patch.
A truck with the Z symbol.
Which was used by ‘orcs’ forces.
Sits nearby riddled with.
Bullet and shrapnel holes.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
The soldiers head east.
Leaving Blahodatne behind.
The two-car convoy is well spaced.
In case of ‘orcs’ attack.
The fields around.
Are heavily mined.
Poles with red-and-white ribbon.
Mark cleared ground.
As you get close to another abandoned.
American armoured vehicle.
There’s an explosion.
Just missing the wreckage.
It is likely from an ‘orcs’ drone.
In this area back in March.
The front lines had barely moved.
A few metres in months.
‘Mordor’ was using far more artillery.
Than ‘elves’ forces.
Who mainly hunkered down in trenches.
Waiting for the barrages to end.
At the time.
A commander told you.
They were conserving their shells.
For the counter-offensive.
On this visit.
‘Elves’ guns didn’t stop.
For the two days.
You were with the brigade.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
The cars speed on to a network.
Of trenches hidden in a line of trees.
Fighting in the recently retaken areas.
Was at close quarters.
There, company commander.
Senior Sergeant, 49.
Runs his men through.
Their next mission.
An ‘elves’ assault is planned.
For the next day on the ‘orcs’ trenches.
3km away at the foot.
Of the low hills to the south.
In their attempt.
To widen the front.
Sections of the 68th Brigade.
Will attack.
From the countryside.
East of Blahodatne and Makarivka.
Across minefields and directly.
In the line of ‘orcs’ fire.
Sgt runs through the drone team’s.
Communication protocols and targets.
The section loses as many as.
Five drones a day.
Tanned and with.
A brilliant white grin.
He looks at his grim-faced men.
And gives one final order:
“Smile – why are you so serious?
We are winning the war.”
‘Elves’ forces launch drones to drop.
Smoke grenades near the ‘orcs’ positions.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
Twenty-four hours later.
Most of the same men are.
In a sweltering dugout.
The attack is under way.
From their surveillance cameras.
You can see two armoured vehicles.
Slowly making their way.
Through the minefield.
Drone after drone is sent.
Above the ‘orcs’ positions.
Dropping smoke grenades.
Creating a smoke screen.
Along the ‘orcs’-occupied trenches.
To allow vehicles to advance.
And confuse.
Enemy anti-tank weapons.
As you watch.
‘Elves’ shells repeatedly strike the treeline.
A young soldier runs.
In and out of the dugout.
Changing drone batteries.
And sending them into flight.
While voices bark orders.
And target positions across the radios.
Mosquitoes and horseflies.
Are feasting on the men.
But still one, from western Ukraine.
Has taken his shirt off because of the heat.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
Their enemy isn’t holding back.
As you stand outside.
An ‘orcs’ strike lands close enough.
To throw dirt into the trench.
Standing lookout.
In wrap-around shades.
And without body armour.
There he is.
Another ‘orcs’ shell lands close.
And you hit the ground.
You look up.
And he hasn’t flinched.
He shouts in English.
Expletives directed at the ‘orcs’.
And gives two middle fingers.
To the air.
More broadly.
The counter-offensive is made.
More difficult because of.
The lack of ‘elves’ air power.
The West has promised.
F-16 fighter planes.
But they will not arrive.
Until later this year.
Salvoes of Grad rockets rain down.
On ‘elves’ positions.
Back outside in the trenches.
Another soldier explains:
“ ‘Orcs’ helicopters.
‘Orcs’ jets.
Fire at every area.
Every day”.
He’s interrupted.
As another strike lands nearby.
“Go to the shelter.
Good luck,” he says.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
When, on 3 June.
‘Gandalf the Green’ announced that.
Ukraine was ready.
For the counter-offensive.
He mentioned ‘orcs’ air superiority.
And warned.
Many ‘elves’ lives would be lost.
And so it has been for the 68th Brigade.
Sgt says this weighs heavily on him.
“The severity of the day.
Depends solely on one thing.
The number of people we lose.”
“The last week.
Has been extremely difficult.
We have lost.
A large number of people.”
On his head he wears.
A ballistic helmet.
A size too small.
You mention it.
And he starts to weep.
“It was my son’s.”
His son, 21.
Was killed.
In a drone strike.
Not far from where you speak.
A couple of days before.
The counter-offensive began.
He’d been in the army.
A year.
His father is still.
In the throes of grief.
“A kamikaze drone flew to them.
And in fact hit him directly.
It was impossible to recognise him.
He was buried in a closed coffin.”
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
How does he go on?
“I made a commitment.
You know, we’re here to win.
Not to sit back, not to escape.”
“I just think that every person here.
Must do their job professionally.
There is nothing heroic in it.
I just have to finish this job.”
Is he looking for revenge?
He replies firmly:
“Revenge is a sin.
My task is to bring this story to an end.”
“I want to take part.
In the victory parade.
I want us to win.
And I want to lose fewer people.”
You leave the front.
The offensive still under way.
Later, a message telling you.
They’d taken the ‘orcs’ positions.
Throughout the village.
Roses are in bloom.
But the smell of corpses.
Catches the back of your throat.
Let’s join the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
As its combat forces seek to expand.
Their control eastward of the recently regained.
Village of Blahodatne.
There’s no time to delay.
The soldiers have an air of.
Concentration and purpose.
They are clearly preparing for something.
Returning to the command post.
Sgt’s car escorting you.
Swerves and comes to.
A sudden stop.
He, along with others.
Quickly exits the vehicle.
You wonder if you too.
Need to take cover.
Cherry trees.
Then you see what’s caught.
Their attention.
Cherry trees.
Like kids, they laugh carefree.
For a moment as they grab.
Handfuls of the dark red fruit.
From the shady branches.
As artillery and mortar fire.
Continues to hammer.
‘Orcs’ positions.
On the hillside.
The ‘elves’ flag is placed.
On a building in Blahodatne.
One of the villages Ukraine says.
It has recaptured from ‘Mordor’.
*Because I read “Ukraine war: BBC on the front line as Ukraine attacks Russian trenches” by Quentin Sommerville on 19 June 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 Nina, and a story of Sgt Onistrat, Yuri, Frisbee, Zheka, Yaroslav, Sgt Onistrat’s son Ostap and other men of the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
Please read the original story and others related on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: BBC on the front line as Ukraine attacks Russian trenches – BBC News
Ukraine war: Kyiv claims more villages retaken but picture mixed – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem with 4 other poems together also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
