“I had a hunch.
That someone was.
Watching me.
My heart was pounding.”
Agent One.
Takes photos.
As he crouches down.
In some bushes.
“For probably two weeks.
I planned in my head.
How and what.
I would do.”
“Planned the route.
The main backup.
What I should say.
In case I was noticed.”
Agent One.
Is thorough.
He takes multiple shots.
From multiple angles.
On one occasion.
Moments after investigating a site.
He noticed a group of.
‘Orcs’ servicemen nearby.
“That was a terrible moment.
I managed to lean down by a car.
And pretended that I had.
A problem with the wheel.”
“Miraculously.
They just didn’t talk to me.”
It’s dangerous work.
Potentially deadly.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
Atesh collects information.
On ‘orcs’ military movements.
Mostly in Crimea.
But also in other occupied areas.
And even inside ‘Mordor’ itself.
Their information has aided.
High-profile ‘elves’ strikes.
On Crimea.
Such as hits on.
An ‘orcs’ landing ship.
And submarine.
The Minsk and Rostov-on-Don.
And an attack on.
The headquarters of.
‘Orcs’ Black Sea Fleet.
In September 2023.
Most recently, Atesh had carried out.
Reconnaissance work this week.
After an ‘elves’ strike on.
A possible radar station in Yevpatoria.
The agents say.
They’re willing to speak.
Because they want to show.
There is an active resistance movement.
“Crimeans are not all zombies.
And are ready to resist even.
In conditions of total censorship.”
Agent One says.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
The ‘orc’ serviceman.
Agent Five knows.
His double life.
Is dangerous.
“The stakes are very high.
No one wants to go to jail.”
Those caught face treason charges.
And long prison sentences.
“Everything must be approached.
Carefully and with your head.
Mistakes in such activities.
Are simply unacceptable.”
‘Mordor’ annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
In March 2014.
Eight years before.
Its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
“The ‘orcs’ special services.
Are constantly trying to.
Identify partisans.”
Agent Two says.
He hides the work.
He is doing.
From even.
His closest family.
They started carrying out.
Reconnaissance work.
Because of their opposition.
To ‘Mordor’’s actions.
They provide intel.
On air defences.
On depots.
On military bases.
They provide intel.
On soldiers’ movements.
Sometimes staking out.
Sites for weeks.
Agent Two is not.
Paid for his work.
But he is refunded.
For his expenses, like fuel.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
A different body which works.
With Atesh insists Atesh is not.
A propaganda construct and.
That the intel is of high value.
“A missile attack.
With Storm Shadow.
Or Himars.
Is a very expensive thing,”
“We can’t let.
Ourselves throw.
Ammunition randomly.
As the ‘orcs’ do.”
“We have to verify.
The information we’re getting.”
Says its spokesman.
Who wears a mask.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
Agent Two describes.
Driving more than 100km.
To survey.
A military site.
He walked.
“For a long time”.
Before managing to find.
A gap in a fence.
He squeezed through it.
To gather photos.
And information.
On military vehicles.
“It’s exciting.
Adrenaline rises.
Incredibly powerfully.
At such moments.”
In the days that followed.
He heard there had been.
A successful strike.
In that area.
“This is the moment.
I am most proud of.”
“This is the moment.
I am most proud of.”
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
For Atesh, the threat.
Of infiltration.
By pro-‘orcs’ operatives.
Is very real.
In a murky world of.
Agents and double agents.
“We try not to.
Disclose strategic plans.”
“To the agents.
Who are at risk.
Of being taken.
By the FSB.”
“A person knows.
Only what he needs to know.”
Says your handler.
For the group.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
Agent Three says that.
“Filming the military.
Of a country that.
Is at war is suicide.”
But the risk is justified.
Because of ‘orcs’ “criminal war”.
“If I am caught.
Then I will face.”
“The basements of the FSB.
And accusations of.
Being a ‘traitor’.
To the Motherland.”
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
But, with the risk.
Comes the possibility.
Too of reward.
Agent Four says.
“We often see.
The fruits of our work.
When… ‘orcs’ military sites are hit.
So that only ashes remain.”
Sometimes it’s just.
A quick photo or two.
Sometimes Agent Four observes.
Areas over a prolonged period.
“To find out.
All the routes of patrols.
Find out where all.
The exits and entrances are.”
“What equipment is.
On the territory.
Or what exactly is stored.
At the facility.”
Each man tells you.
He works alone.
Contacting only a “curator”.
To whom the information is passed.
He’s part of.
A group called Atesh.
A word that means.
Fire in Crimean Tatar.
Atesh appeared.
As a network.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
And Atesh is.
By no means.
The only resistance organization.
In occupied areas.
It claims to be.
A grassroots movement.
That’s grown from a small group.
Which now numbers “thousands”.
All those agents say.
Their priority is ending.
‘Mordor’’s invasion and.
Its occupation of ‘elves’ land.
Agent One says that.
In Crimea, they live in.
“Terrible conditions” of.
Propaganda and control.
“But I am absolutely sure.
That we are gradually.
Bringing our liberation.
Of Crimea closer.”
*Because I read “Ukraine war: Atesh, the group spying on Russians in occupied Crimea” by Jessica Parker on 6 Jan 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.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Atesh, the group spying on Russians in occupied Crimea – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
