In April 2022.
‘Orcs’ forces attacked Marinka.
A front-line town in eastern Ukraine.
West of Donetsk.
After 20 months of bloody fighting.
That leveled Marinka.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The town back in December.
That opened a route toward.
Kurakhiv, an ‘elves’ stronghold.
Eight miles to the west along.
The O0510 road.
But actually reaching.
Kurakhiv—along the road.
Or via the fields.
To the south.
Has proved difficult.
For the ‘orcs’ army’s.
150th Motor Rifle Division.
And adjacent units.
On or just before Thursday.
An ‘orcs’ formation rolled out.
Along the fields.
And got “dismantled.”
“Dismantled.
… for spare parts.”
The ‘elves’ 79th.
Air Assault Brigade boasted.
Buried mines disabled.
Three tanks.
Drones and, it seems.
Anti-tank missiles finished them off.
Drones destroyed.
At least one motorcycle.
And then chased down and.
Killed six ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Two armored personnel carriers.
Were damaged.
According to a former advisor.
To ‘elf’ minister of the interior.
One ‘orc’ survivor sought.
Shelter in the ruins.
Of a battle-damaged building.
Only to get pulverized.
By an ‘elves’ air force fighter.
Lobbing a satellite-guided bomb.
“The column did not reach.
The ‘elves’ positions.”
On or just before Thursday.
An ‘orcs’ formation rolled out.
Along the fields.
And got “dismantled.”
“Dismantled.
… for spare parts.”
The ‘elves’ 79th.
Air Assault Brigade boasted.
The ‘orcs’’ defeat isn’t unusual.
Most ‘orcs’ attacks.
Along this axis don’t.
Get very far.
14 attacks in the area on Thursday.
And 12 on Wednesday.
What is unusual is the mix.
Of forces the ‘orcs’ deployed.
According to the 79th.
Air Assault Brigade.
The ‘orcs’ formation included.
Brand-new T-72B3M tanks.
With all the latest gadgets.
—anti-drone cage armor.
Radio jammers and.
Mine-clearing rollers—.
Plus an assortment of.
Armored personnel carriers.
As well as soldiers.
Riding on motorcycles.
On or just before Thursday.
An ‘orcs’ formation rolled out.
Along the fields.
And got “dismantled.”
“Dismantled.
… for spare parts.”
The ‘elves’ 79th.
Air Assault Brigade boasted.
In that sense.
The assault group included.
The best and worst of.
The ‘orcs’ military.
As its wider invasion.
Of Ukraine.
Grinds toward.
Its 29th month.
The 47-ton.
Three-person T-72B3M is.
One of just two tank types.
In production in ‘Mordor’.
The other is the heavier T-90M.
‘Orcs’ industry manufactures.
Between 500 and 600.
New T-72s and T-90s a year.
That’s a lot more tanks.
Than any other country produces.
In a year.
But far too few to.
Make good the roughly.
1,200 tanks.
‘Orcs’ forces lose.
In Ukraine every year.
On or just before Thursday.
An ‘orcs’ formation rolled out.
Along the fields.
And got “dismantled.”
“Dismantled.
… for spare parts.”
The ‘elves’ 79th.
Air Assault Brigade boasted.
To make up the gap between.
Tank production and tank losses.
‘Mordor’ has been pulling.
Old tanks.
T-54/55s from the 1950s.
T-62s from the ’60s and older.
T-72s and T-80s from the ’70s and ’80s.
—out of long-term storage.
As old models account.
For a growing proportion.
Of the ‘orcs’’.
3,000-strong tank corps.
Those factory-fresh.
T-72B3Ms are.
Becoming a rarity.
And that surely makes.
Their wholesale destruction.
In failed assaults such as.
That around Kurakhiv.
Especially painful for the ‘orcs’.
On or just before Thursday.
An ‘orcs’ formation rolled out.
Along the fields.
And got “dismantled.”
“Dismantled.
… for spare parts.”
The ‘elves’ 79th.
Air Assault Brigade boasted.
It’s telling that.
The assault group.
Aiming for Kurakhiv included.
Fewer APCs than tanks.
‘Mordor’ is struggling.
To acquire replacement tanks.
But it’s struggling.
Even more to acquire replacement.
APCs and infantry fighting vehicles.
That’s apparently why.
The group also included.
Bike troops.
As armored vehicles.
Become an increasingly rare.
And precious commodity.
In the ‘orcs’ military.
Civilian-style vehicles.
—trucks, all-terrain vehicles.
And motorcycles—.
Are replaceing them.
And they’re getting.
Dismantled at least.
As swiftly as.
The tanks and APCs do.
*Because I read “‘Dismantled … For Spare Parts.’ Russians Attack With Their Best Tanks And Worst War Bikes—And Run Into Heavily-Armed Ukrainian Paratroopers.” by David Axe on 19 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.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
Russia’s Best Tanks Attack—And Get ‘Dismantled For Spare Parts’ (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.