‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
He has been searching for.
His brother for nearly two years.
His brother is one of thousands.
Of ‘elves’ civilians.
Being held in prisons.
In ‘Mordor’.
And the occupied territories.
For opposing the war.
But with no charges.
Formal investigation.
Trial, or release date.
Their location is a mystery.
And unlike.
Prisoners of war.
There is no formal mechanism.
To secure their freedom.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
When ‘Mordor’ invaded Ukraine.
In February 2022.
He and his brother, their mother.
And his brother’s girlfriend fled their home.
In Chernihiv.
In the north of the country.
To avoid the conflict.
They went to the village of Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske.
But by early March.
‘Orcs’ soldiers arrived there too.
“We’ve come to liberate you.
From your government.”
But by early March.
‘Orcs’ soldiers arrived there too.
“‘The One’ is cool.”
The soldiers exclaimed.
The soldiers searched the village.
Confiscating phones.
And accusing his family of sharing.
The location of the ‘orcs’ army.
Something they all deny.
Then the soldiers set up.
What sounded like.
A fake execution.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
“They took my brother.
And others behind some trees.
And told them to line up against a wall.
Yelling: ‘Get ready! Aim!’”
“Then they took my brother ‘s girlfriend.
And made her kneel next to him.
Aiming a rifle at her head.
They said to my brother:”
‘If you don’t confess.
We’ll shoot her.’
That was the last time.
He saw his brother.
“He may have confessed.
To save his girlfriend.
Because they let her go.
They told us:”
‘He admitted everything.
He’s facing up to.
15 years in prison.’
That was the last time.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
Desperate to track his brother down.
His brother’s friends and relatives.
Started to use.
The prisons letter service.
Which allows you to send messages.
To some penal colonies.
And investigative isolation units.
Eventually they received a response.
Confirming he was being held.
In a pre-trial detention centre.
Called SIZO-3 in Belgorod.
Just over the border in ‘Mordor’.
But when a lawyer.
Went to visit.
The prison said nobody of.
That name was there.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
He has been searching for.
His brother for nearly two years.
His brother is one of thousands.
Of ‘elves’ civilians.
Being held in prisons.
In ‘Mordor’.
And the occupied territories.
For opposing the war.
But with no charges.
Formal investigation.
Trial, or release date.
Their location is a mystery.
And unlike.
Prisoners of war.
There is no formal mechanism.
To secure their freedom.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
‘Orcs’ captured, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ captured the land.
*Because I read “The Ukrainians ‘disappearing’ in Russia’s prisons” by Olga Prosvirova & Zhanna Bezpyatchuk on 10 Feb 2024, 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 Volodymyr, his brother Mykyta and Mykyta’s girlfriend Kateryna.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
The Ukrainians ‘disappearing’ in Russia’s prisons – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem with another one on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
