Whether the town’s ruins.
Are worth the price.
‘Orcs’ paid is a question.
Only ‘orcs’ can answer.
While Ukraine.
And indeed the whole world.
Was distracted by.
The ‘orcs’ campaign.
To capture the industrial town.
Of Avdiivka.
In eastern Ukraine.
Starting in October.
The ‘orcs’ military launched.
A smaller assault on another.
Eastern town: Novomykhailivka.
20 miles to the south.
Around the same time.
The ‘orcs’ captured what was left.
Of Avdiivka in mid-April.
They also captured Novomykhailivka.
The former battle was.
Costlier for the ‘orcs’.
But only.
In raw terms.
Relative to the scale of the fight.
The six-month battle.
For Novomykhailivka.
Was just as bloody.
‘Elves’ forces repelled.
An ‘orcs’ attack south of.
The ruined town.
As recently as July 2.
At the cost of.
320 vehicles and.
Potentially thousands of.
Troops over six months.
The ‘orcs’ military.
Advanced four miles.
Into and through.
Novomykhailivka.
Whether the town’s ruins.
Are worth the price.
‘Orcs’ paid is a question.
Only ‘orcs’ can answer.
Estimates vary.
But it’s possible.
‘Orcs’ lost more than.
40,000 troops.
—a third killed.
Two-thirds wounded—.
Plus more than 1,000 vehicles.
Capturing Avdiivka.
Meanwhile around.
Novomykhailivka.
‘Mordor’ wrote off.
More than 300 vehicles.
According to.
An ‘elf’ drone operator.
That implies troop losses.
Of around 13,000.
Killed and wounded.
‘Elves’ losses were.
Much lighter.
In both battles.
‘Elves’ forces repelled.
An ‘orcs’ attack south of.
The ruined town.
As recently as July 2.
At the cost of.
320 vehicles and.
Potentially thousands of.
Troops over six months.
The ‘orcs’ military.
Advanced four miles.
Into and through.
Novomykhailivka.
Whether the town’s ruins.
Are worth the price.
‘Orcs’ paid is a question.
Only ‘orcs’ can answer.
When three ‘orcs’.
Field armies with dozens of.
Brigades and regiments attacked.
Avdiivka in early October.
“All our attention was there.”
The ‘elf’ drone operator recalled.
“But there was.
One more big battle.”
Seven ‘orcs’ regiments and brigades.
Including the ill-fated.
155th.
Naval Infantry Brigade.
Assaulted the ‘elves’ garrison.
In Novomykhailivka.
Made up of.
Two active brigades.
The fighting was relentless.
In a long thread.
On social media.
The ‘elf’ drone operator detailed.
‘Orcs’ tank losses.
Including 1950s-vintage T-54s.
T-62s from the 1960s.
And newer T-72s and T-80s.
‘Elves’ mines, artillery.
And drones knocked out.
Dozens of tanks.
But the ‘orcs’ kept coming.
One T-80 ran over.
Nine mines.
Before it ground.
To a halt.
As in the battle for Avdiivka.
The ‘orcs’ ran low.
On purpose-made.
Armored vehicles.
And deployed.
More than a few.
Do-it-yourself vehicles.
As replacements.
At least one.
Up-armored “turtle tank”.
Was immobilized.
By an ‘elves’ mine.
“Turtle tank”—a T-62.
With no turret and.
A shell of add-on.
Anti-drone armor—.
The heavy losses.
The ‘elves’ inflicted on the ‘orcs’.
Stalled but didn’t prevent.
Novomykhailivka’s fall in mid-April.
‘Elves’ forces repelled.
An ‘orcs’ attack south of.
The ruined town.
As recently as July 2.
At the cost of.
320 vehicles and.
Potentially thousands of.
Troops over six months.
The ‘orcs’ military.
Advanced four miles.
Into and through.
Novomykhailivka.
Whether the town’s ruins.
Are worth the price.
‘Orcs’ paid is a question.
Only ‘orcs’ can answer.
As in Avdiivka, the ‘elves’.
Defending Novomykhailivka.
Were desperately short of.
Artillery shells and anti-tank missiles.
Mostly owing to.
A long blockade of
Further U.S. aid.
To Ukraine.
That blockade finally.
Ended as.
‘Orcs’ troops were marching.
Into Novomykhailivka.
In the months following.
Their capture of Novomykhailivka.
The ‘orcs’ have continued attacking.
To the north, west and south.
But with less success.
As more American munitions.
Have arrived along.
The front line.
Whether the town’s ruins.
Are worth the price.
‘Orcs’ paid is a question.
Only ‘orcs’ can answer.
*Because I read “Russia Lost 300 Vehicles Capturing One Ukrainian Town” by David Axe on 16 Jul 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, including a story of “Kriegsforscher”.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
Russia Lost 300 Vehicles Capturing One Ukrainian Town (forbes.com)
**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.
