As a result.
The town of Avdiivka.
Has turned into a symbol.
Of ‘elves’ resistance and resilience.
As ‘orcs’ missiles shatter.
The town of Avdiivka.
She is desperate to escape.
But her elderly mother refuses to leave.
“I can’t leave her.
She said she wanted to sleep.
In her own bed.
She’s 71.”
“And has problems with her legs.
If she stays alone.
She can’t get water.
Or wood for heating.”
Holed up precariously.
In a fifth floor flat.
Living under near constant.
Bombardment and air strikes.
They’re among the last.
Remaining residents of Avdiivka.
“Windows and doors.
Are broken everywhere.”
“With attacks every day.
It’s difficult to fix them.
Because they get broken.
Again every day.”
To venture out.
To the last remaining shop in town.
She says, is to take life.
Into your own hands.
“There are no places.
Where you can hide.
In case of an attack…
If you hear a whistle.”
“You don’t have enough time.
To get to safety.”
That shop has since.
Been destroyed.
As a result.
The town of Avdiivka.
Has turned into a symbol.
Of ‘elves’ resistance and resilience.
Avdiivka’s residents now.
Rely all the more.
On a facility known as.
A Point of Invincibility.
You’ll find these government-built.
Help stations all over this country;
Designed to provide food.
Warmth, power and refuge.
And, for some.
In Avdiivka.
The Point of Invincibility.
Is now home.
A nurse in her 40s.
Volunteers at the facility and moved in.
After the doors and windows of her home.
Were blown off in an attack.
But even in the relative safety.
Of the basement.
She says, she doesn’t.
Get much sleep.
“Missiles are flying every night.
Every day and every night.
Too many of them.
Everyone feels fear.”
Her grown-up son.
Has fled Avdiivka.
She hopes.
To follow soon.
As she prepares for evacuation.
She recalls Avdiivka before war broke out.
“There was a park, a boulevard.
There were a lot of shops.”
“We planted trees.
It was very beautiful here.
We had a cultural centre.
A lot of festivals and celebrations.”
She hopes, one day, to return.
But, sheltering in the devastation.
Of her hometown.
She fears.
There’ll be nothing left.
To come back to.
“There is no Avdiivka.
Any more.”
As a result.
The town of Avdiivka.
Has turned into a symbol.
Of ‘elves’ resistance and resilience.
A special police unit known as.
The White Angels leads the evacuations.
Though they sometimes find it hard.
To persuade people to leave.
A member of the crew says.
They brought 50 people.
To safety.
In the last week.
Getting people out of the town.
Is difficult and dangerous.
The situation in the area.
Has deteriorated significantly.
“There are constant attacks.
On the town.
And nearby villages.
Launched from either artillery.”
“Multiple rocket launchers or aviation.
– guided aerial bombs, missiles.
They attack the town and villages.
Houses where people live.”
‘Gandalf the Green’ has shared.
Photos of Avdiivka.
Showing soldiers in Avdiivka.
Showing rubble in a playground in Avdiivka.
“We are holding our ground.
It is ‘elves’ courage and unity.
That will determine how.
This war will end.”
This strategically important.
And fiercely contested town.
Lies right on the front line.
In eastern Ukraine.
Military positions.
And residential areas of Avdiivka.
Have been relentlessly pummelled.
For the last three days.
As a result.
The town of Avdiivka.
Has turned into a symbol.
Of ‘elves’ resistance and resilience.
Avdiivka is sometimes described.
As the gateway to the city of Donetsk.
Which has been occupied by ‘Mordor’.
And its proxy forces since 2014.
Taking Avdiivka – which lies close by –
Would allow them to push the front line back.
Making it harder for the ‘elves’ forces.
To retake the territory.
‘Orcs’ attempts to move forward.
Appear to be aimed at.
Seizing the villages of Berdyche.
And Stepove to the north of Avdiivka.
And the villages of Tonenke.
And Severne to the south.
Most people have fled Avdiivka.
There’s been fighting here since 2014.
But since the start of ‘orcs’.
Full-scale invasion of last February.
The population has shrunk from.
More than 30,000 to just over 1,000.
The town has been well fortified.
And protected since 2014.
Making an ‘orcs’ breakthrough.
Inside Avdiivka much harder.
For that reason.
They are trying to cut it off from the rest.
Of ‘elves’-controlled territories.
And encircle it.
Some 1,600 residents.
Remain in Avdiivka.
Most of them moved.
Into basements long ago.
But they don’t always.
Provide good protection.
‘Gandalf the Green’ described.
The situation as “particularly tough”.
As a result.
The town of Avdiivka.
Has turned into a symbol.
Of ‘elves’ resistance and resilience.
*Because I read “Ukraine war: Russia attacks Avdiivka stronghold in eastern Ukraine” by Abdujalil Abdurasulov on 12 Oct 2023, “Ukraine war: Avdiivka civilians cling on amid Russian assault” by Jenny Hill on 24 Oct 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 Hanna, a story of Maryna and a story of Hennadiy.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Russia attacks Avdiivka stronghold in eastern Ukraine – BBC News
Ukraine war: Avdiivka civilians cling on amid Russian assault – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
