He was one of last.
Journalists in Bakhmut.
An ‘elves’ city captured by.
‘Orcs’ forces in February 2023.
He saw both.
The peak of the battle and.
The ‘orcs’ military.
Entering the city.
He also witnessed.
The ‘orcs’ advance.
In the Avdiivka region.
As well as the siege of Kharkiv.
In May, he and a colleague.
Joined the Kayfariki unit.
An ‘elves’ military group made up of.
Left-wing FC Arsenal Kyiv fans.
During the ambush.
He heard his comrades.
Constantly repeating a phrase.
He could not understand.
“When it finally got translated.
I found out.
It was that the guys saying.
‘I love you’ to each other.”
Unbeknownst to the ‘elves’ forces.
‘Orcs’ had identified.
The unit’s location and.
Had planned an attack.
It was not until.
The early hours of.
The final day that this plan.
Was put into action.
His unit was bombarded.
For three hours.
It occurred in.
The Donbas region.
“Once this ended.
A convoy of tanks.
Drove into our town.
All hell broke loose.”
This initiated 14 hours.
Of back and forth.
Gunfire, artillery.
And drones.
There were roughly.
70 ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Compared to the eight.
‘Elves’ fighters.
During the ambush.
He heard his comrades.
Constantly repeating a phrase.
He could not understand.
“When it finally got translated.
I found out.
It was that the guys saying.
‘I love you’ to each other.”
He recalled that.
The ‘orcs’ were so close.
He could hear.
Them strategising.
Asking the commander.
What the plan should be.
He was met.
With the response:
“Dying is not part of the plan.
We’re going to escape.
But it’s probably.
Not going to work.”
Outnumbered, injured.
And quickly.
Running out of ammunition.
Their situation was untenable.
During the ambush.
He heard his comrades.
Constantly repeating a phrase.
He could not understand.
“When it finally got translated.
I found out.
It was that the guys saying.
‘I love you’ to each other.”
“I accepted I was dead.”
When he asked.
How one of.
The injured soldiers felt.
The only reply was:
“I don’t feel anything.
We’re already dead.”
“We’re already dead.”
The photographer said.
“Everybody was injured.
We could hear the ‘orcs’.
Screaming for our blood.”
“There was a point.
Where the commander was like.
‘This is probably it’.”
‘This is probably it’.
“When you hear.
Something like that.
I think back over my life.
And think ‘I had a good run’.”
During the ambush.
He heard his comrades.
Constantly repeating a phrase.
He could not understand.
“When it finally got translated.
I found out.
It was that the guys saying.
‘I love you’ to each other.”
“Once night came we just.
Sprinted out the back.”
He described how the unit.
Ran three kilometres.
Facing ‘orcs’ gunfire.
The entire time.
“How they didn’t hit any of us.
Is beyond a miracle.”
Eventually, the group escaped.
Beyond the reach of the ‘orcs’ guns.
And were rescued by ‘elves’ troops.
They survived with zero casualties.
“I’m definitely.
One of the lucky ones.”
The Belfast man has already.
Been back to Ukraine.
To catch up with the unit.
Which is now back on the frontline.
“I met them all.
They were in pretty good spirits.”
During the ambush.
He heard his comrades.
Constantly repeating a phrase.
He could not understand.
“When it finally got translated.
I found out.
It was that the guys saying.
‘I love you’ to each other.”
He “instantly fell in love.
With the country”.
A Belfast conflict photographer first.
Visited Ukraine in 2018.
When war broke out.
Five years later.
It was a “no brainer”.
That he had to go.
“It was a direct train.
From Berlin to the ‘elves’ border;
Within a week I was.
On the ‘orcs’ border.”
*Because I read “NI photographer caught in Russian ambush in Ukraine” by Adam Mandeville on 15 Jul 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 Conall Kearney with the Kayfariki unit.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: NI photographer caught in Russian ambush (bbc.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.
