In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
In early 2023.
The United States donated nearly.
200 ex-U.S. Army Stryker.
Fighting vehicles to Ukraine.
The general staff in Kyiv.
Assigned almost all of.
The eight-wheeled.
20-ton vehicles.
Each with a machine gun.
Or grenade launcher.
And room for 11 people.
To the ‘elves’ air assault forces’.
New 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
An elite brigade.
In an elite branch.
Of the armed forces.
More than a year later.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Is finally deploying.
Its nimble fighting vehicles.
Where its designers intended.
When they drew up.
Blueprints for the Stryker.
In the 1990s: a city.
Specifically, in Vovchansk.
The current locus of ‘orcs’.
Two-week-old northern offensive.
In ‘elves’ Kharkiv Oblast.
In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Posted a video montage.
Online on Tuesday that.
Confirmed the deployment.
In the montage.
‘Elves’ paratroopers.
Roll into battle.
In central Vovchansk.
One trooper even.
Firing an anti-tank rocket.
From a Stryker’s.
Open top hatch.
“The task was to take.
Defensive positions.
And hold off the enemy.”
One paratrooper said.
It’s the fight.
It’s the fight.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was designed for.
In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
The implications were obvious.
The ‘elves’ army should send.
Its new Stryker brigade.
Into urban fights.
It should avoid sending.
The brigade into a direct fight.
With an ‘orcs’ mechanized.
Or tank brigade.
Especially on open terrain.
Where heavier tanks and.
Tracked fighting vehicles can bring to.
Bear their superior long-range firepower.
But when the 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Saw combat for the first time.
Last summer.
It was on exactly the wrong terrain.
Against exactly the wrong opponent.
Dug-in ‘orcs’ mechanized forces.
On the open fields.
Of southern Ukraine.
In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
As the southern front stabilized.
And the ‘orcs’ concentrated.
Their forces on the urban.
East and north.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Finally had.
The chance to fight.
On favorable terrain.
The stakes were enormous.
When the first 82nd.
Air Assault Brigade teams.
Deployed in Vochansk.
Aiming to grind.
Through Vovchansk.
In order to clear.
The way to Kharkiv.
The ‘orcs’ army’s new.
Northern grouping of forces.
Had adopted the infantry-first.
Assault tactics.
That had worked.
For other ‘orcs’ troop.
Groupings elsewhere.
In Ukraine.
In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
Platoons of ‘orcs’.
Were spread across.
The urban no-man’s-land.
In central Vovchansk.
Blurring the front line.
And compelling.
The ‘elves’ Stryker crews.
To fight along 360 degrees.
“We held circular defense.”
One paratrooper said.
“They were coming.
From all directions.”
A clutch of Strykers is.
Suited to a circular fight.
The nine-foot-tall vehicles.
Are good observation.
And firing platforms for their.
Top-mounted sensors and weapons.
Making it hard for.
The ‘orcs’ to sneak up on them.
More importantly.
Each Stryker carries.
An entire squad.
Of nine infantry.
Meaning a platoon.
Of four Strykers can.
Deploy a full platoon of.
Nearly 40 infantry.
Something a platoon of.
Heavier but less capacious.
M-2 tracked fighting vehicles.
Can’t do.
It’s not for no reason.
A Stryker brigade is.
Best employed as.
A dismounted fighting force.
In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
That the 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was ready for.
The urban battle.
In Vovchansk is evident.
After advancing several miles.
To the south.
In the first few days.
Of their northern offensive.
The ‘orcs’ ran into.
Stiffening ‘elves’ defenses.
And almost stopped.
Advancing at all.
Stiffening ‘elves’ defenses.
In central Vovchansk.
Including the recently arrived.
Paratroopers and their wheeled vehicles.
In the days following.
The initial ‘orcs’ assault.
Across the border.
North of Kharkiv.
There were rumors.
The 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Was rushing to reinforce.
The garrison in Vovchansk.
*Because I read “In Vovchansk, Ukrainian Paratroopers In Stryker Vehicles Are Fighting Russian Infantry Attacking From All Directions” by David Axe on 23 May 2024 on the Forbes, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022 on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, about the 82nd Air Assault Brigade.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
**My friend kindly shows you this poem in one page of the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them! You can read my 100 poems here at once.
