An ‘elf’ soldier drags himself.
Through the long grass.
One leg trailing limply.
Behind him.
Seconds later.
A flash of bright orange.
And a cloud of white smoke.
Mark the spot.
Just a few metres.
Away where yet.
Another land mine.
Has been triggered.
As a second badly wounded soldier.
Pulls himself up on to.
The relative safety of.
A nearby armoured personnel carrier.
Arms flailing like a swimmer.
Trying to cling onto a lifeboat.
A thick smudge of dark red blood.
Marks his agonising progress.
All this was captured, live.
Last week, by an ‘elves’ army drone.
Hovering overhead on the frontlines.
South of the Donbas city of Bakhmut.
From above, the cratered minefield.
Looked like it was.
Covered in a haphazard rash.
Of dark brown crop circles.
As for the vast stretches of minefields.
Still lying in front of Ukraine’s counter-attack.
The sapper squad commander near Bakhmut.
Was quietly confident.
“We are learning to improvise and.
To invent ways to make quick, safe paths.
Through the minefields.
But we are fighting a very vicious enemy.”
‘Elves’ sapper teams come across.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ mines every day.
They are trained to deal with mines.
When troops come across them.
“Mines are terrifying.
They scare me more than anything else.”
Said a 36-year-old soldier from.
Ukraine’s 108th Territorial Defence Brigade.
Two days earlier.
Two of his colleagues.
Had stood on “petals”.
Small, green, anti-personnel mines.
That had recently been scattered.
Across a field by ‘orcs’ rockets.
“Our guys were experienced.
But it’s hard to have eyes everywhere.”
“Both have leg amputations.
One leg each.
We have mine injuries.
After every fight.”
Said this trained sapper.
Explaining that the rockets.
Enable ‘orcs’ forces.
To plant new mines.
In places that.
Have already been liberated.
And cleared.
By ‘elves’ forces.
As for the vast stretches of minefields.
Still lying in front of Ukraine’s counter-attack.
The sapper squad commander near Bakhmut.
Was quietly confident.
“We are learning to improvise and.
To invent ways to make quick, safe paths.
Through the minefields.
But we are fighting a very vicious enemy.”
‘Elves’ sapper teams come across.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ mines every day.
They are trained to deal with mines.
When troops come across them.
As Ukraine’s long-anticipated.
Counterattack has not yet.
Achieved the sort of.
Speed and momentum.
That some had hoped for.
Including ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Who admitted.
It was “slower than desired”.
A range of soldiers.
On different sections of the frontline.
Have blamed ‘orcs’ minefields.
For at least part of that delay.
“Of course, it slows down.
The movement of troops.”
Said the commander of.
A nine-man sapper squad.
He’d just finished a de-mining mission.
On the nearby frontlines.
To the east of the tiny, ruined village.
Of Predtechyne, outside Bakhmut.
He laid out an array.
Of deactivated ‘orcs’ mines.
On the ground.
Beneath a tree.
Taking care to make sure.
He could not be spotted.
By ‘orcs’ drones.
Overhead.
As for the vast stretches of minefields.
Still lying in front of Ukraine’s counter-attack.
The sapper squad commander near Bakhmut.
Was quietly confident.
“We are learning to improvise and.
To invent ways to make quick, safe paths.
Through the minefields.
But we are fighting a very vicious enemy.”
‘Elves’ sapper teams come across.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ mines every day.
They are trained to deal with mines.
When troops come across them.
“The enemy has no mercy.
For their own soldiers.
They’re used.
As cannon fodder.”
“But we’re trying.
To move forwards.
With the minimum.
Of casualties.”
Said the Lieutenant from.
The 3rd Assault Brigade.
Speaking from the shelter.
Of a nearby bunker.
Some three hours’ drive.
Further south.
Across a succession of.
Lop-sided pontoon bridges.
‘Elves’ sappers crouched.
By the side of a cratered road.
Carefully deactivating.
A powerful anti-personnel Claymore mine.
That had been hidden.
Near an electricity pole.
Poised to send shrapnel.
Into infantry or vehicles.
As for the vast stretches of minefields.
Still lying in front of Ukraine’s counter-attack.
The sapper squad commander near Bakhmut.
Was quietly confident.
“We are learning to improvise and.
To invent ways to make quick, safe paths.
Through the minefields.
But we are fighting a very vicious enemy.”
‘Elves’ sapper teams come across.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ mines every day.
They are trained to deal with mines.
When troops come across them.
“I hate this job,” said that sapper.
A red-bearded former garage mechanic.
Moments after he’d finished.
Making the mine safe.
There was a whistle.
Then a boom.
As an ‘orcs’ artillery shell.
Hit the fields nearby.
Over the lip of a nearby hill.
‘Elves’ infantry were slowly advancing.
Southwards beyond the newly.
Captured village of Rivnopil.
His anger was not just.
A response to the dangers.
Of minefields.
But to the “sly” mentality.
That he felt must lie behind the act of.
Laying mines and boobytraps.
Rather than fighting your enemy.
“Man to man”.
Later, in their temporary base.
In a cottage several kilometres away.
The soldiers expressed.
Frustration about.
A lack of mine-clearing equipment.
And a shortage of sappers.
Four of whom had been injured.
In recent weeks.
As for the vast stretches of minefields.
Still lying in front of Ukraine’s counter-attack.
The sapper squad commander near Bakhmut.
Was quietly confident.
“We are learning to improvise and.
To invent ways to make quick, safe paths.
Through the minefields.
But we are fighting a very vicious enemy.”
‘Elves’ sapper teams come across.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ mines every day.
They are trained to deal with mines.
When troops come across them.
But then the sapper showed a large antenna.
And brought out a laptop to begin.
Playing recordings of what he said.
Were recent radio intercepts of ‘orcs’ soldiers.
The radio intercept suggested.
That ‘orcs’ soldiers were deserting.
Their positions.
After an ‘elves’ artillery bombardment.
“This happens from time to time.
In groups of 10 or 20.
‘Orcs’ people disappear.
And leave without permission.”
“The ‘orcs’ realise.
We can eavesdrop on.
Their communications.
But sometimes they forget.”
He described himself.
As a “realist”.
Regarding Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
Believing that.
Too many people.
“In the media and in society.
Are in a hurry”.
And expecting sudden progress.
“I believe the worst option.
Is always possible.
The worst is.
Slow progress.”
Two ‘elves’ fighter jets flew low overhead.
With a deafening roar.
Followed by a succession of booms.
From the frontlines further south.
Soon afterwards.
You could hear artillery and what sounded.
Like a longer-range HIMARS rocket system.
Pounding ‘orcs’ positions.
As for the vast stretches of minefields.
Still lying in front of Ukraine’s counter-attack.
The sapper squad commander near Bakhmut.
Was quietly confident.
“We are learning to improvise and.
To invent ways to make quick, safe paths.
Through the minefields.
But we are fighting a very vicious enemy.”
‘Elves’ sapper teams come across.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ mines every day.
They are trained to deal with mines.
When troops come across them.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
May be slow.
And relatively cautious.
At this stage.
But one officer.
Speaking on background.
Suggested that this patient approach.
Would soon pay off in dramatic fashion.
As long-range strikes destroyed.
‘Mordor’’s ability to rearm frontline units.
And low ‘orcs’ morale.
Provided opportunities.
For strategic breakthroughs.
By ‘elves’ forces.
“You will see.
This soon.”
*Because I read “Ukraine war: The lethal minefields holding up Kyiv’s counter-offensive” by Andrew Harding on 3 July 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 Artyom, Dill, and Lieutenant Tyshenko.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: The lethal minefields holding up Kyiv’s counter-offensive – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Kurama (Japan). «Poets in minefields» — a poem about war in Ukraine – Мала Сторінка (storinka.org)
Please join them!
