As ‘elves’ troops fled.
A clutch of motor rifle regiments.
From the ‘orcs’ 1st Army Corps.
Seized the opportunity.
And marched four miles.
To the west.
In the span of a week.
Ultimately capturing Prohres.
And sweeping around those two.
‘Elves’ battalions north of the village.
The surrounded ‘elves’ then.
Experienced their own leadership crisis.
The brigade commander never.
Gave the order to break through.
So the personnel confronted him.
With the fact that.
The personnel who were.
In that area confronted him.
With the fact that the boys.
Would break through with a fight.
The encircled ‘elves’ troops.
Decided, on their own.
To battle their way to the main.
‘Elves’ line hundreds of yards to the west.
A day after getting.
Surrounded and cut off by.
Advancing ‘orcs’ troops just north.
Of the village of Prohres.
Two battalions of ‘elves’ soldiers.
From the ‘elves’ army’s.
31st Mechanized Brigade.
Made a hard decision.
On 20 April.
‘Orcs’ troops took.
Advantage of the confusion.
Resulting from a reshuffling.
Of ‘elves’ forces.
West of the ruins of.
The eastern city of Avdiivka.
—and attacked.
Breaking through positions.
Held by the ‘elves’ army’s.
115th Mechanized Brigade.
The ‘orcs’ quickly advanced.
The ‘elves’ 115th Mechanized Brigade.
Had recently rotated.
Into positions.
In Ocheretyne.
The ‘orcs’ army’s.
30th Motor Rifle Brigade.
Quickly advanced.
Several miles to the west.
‘Orcs’ reinforcements raced.
Into the breach.
Cementing the territorial gains.
Three months later.
It’s happening again.
—and in the same sector.
In just the last week.
‘Orcs’ have advanced.
Nearly four miles farther.
West from Ocheretyne.
Marching .6 miles a day.
Might not seem particularly fast.
But by the standards of.
‘Orcs’ 28-month wider war.
On Ukraine.
It’s practically a sprint.
A day after getting.
Surrounded and cut off by.
Advancing ‘orcs’ troops just north.
Of the village of Prohres.
Two battalions of ‘elves’ soldiers.
From the ‘elves’ army’s.
31st Mechanized Brigade.
Made a hard decision.
An ‘elf’ correspondent.
Called the situation.
Around Ocheretyne.
“Critically difficult.”
It’s easy to lose sight of ‘orcs’.
Enduring advantage over Ukraine.
As the wider war grinds.
Into its third year.
Even as ‘Mordor’ loses.
More than a thousand people a day.
Killed and wounded.
The ‘orcs’ military keeps attacking.
Every attack is an opportunity.
To break through.
Confusion among ‘elves’.
Commanders is a factor.
The ‘orcs’ breakthrough.
Around Ocheretyne in April.
Threw the ‘elves’ off-balance.
And they’re still struggling to recover.
“The ‘orcs’ command attacks.
… those brigades that.
Have the weakest.
Management and organization.”
Seemingly referring to.
The 110th Mechanized Brigade.
And 111th.
Territorial Defense Brigade.
“That is, the enemy is.
Not looking for …
The most vulnerable defense borders.
But the most vulnerable units.”
At their worst.
The ‘elves’ forces.
West of Avdiivka.
Are totally befuddled.
Drone crews and.
Electronic warfare troops are.
“Scattered and unorganized.”
The battle is fluid.
27 attempts.
By ‘orcs’ troops to penetrate.
The unstable ‘elves’ line.
East of Pokrovsk on Monday.
Twenty-two of the attacks failed.
But that means five succeeded.
He expressed worry but not panic.
“I cannot say that.”
“The ‘elf’ command does not.
See and understand.
The critical situation.
There’s a lot going on.”
“None of the commanders.
Sit with their hands folded.”
It would help, he stressed.
If ‘elves’ electronic warfare troops.
In the sector would stop.
Jamming friendly forces.
“Our own jamming destroys.
A significant number of our own drones.”
A day after getting.
Surrounded and cut off by.
Advancing ‘orcs’ troops just north.
Of the village of Prohres.
Two battalions of ‘elves’ soldiers.
From the ‘elves’ army’s.
31st Mechanized Brigade.
Made a hard decision.
Potentially hundreds of.
‘Elves’ troops are nearly surrounded.
Outside the village of Prohres.
In eastern Ukraine.
It’s the latest setback.
For ‘elves’ forces.
In what may currently be.
Their most vulnerable sector.
As ‘orcs’ wider war.
On Ukraine.
Grinds toward.
Its 29th month.
There were ominous signs.
On the battleground west of.
The ruins of Avdiivka.
In recent days.
In the span of a week.
A clutch of ‘orcs’.
Motor rifle regiments marched.
Four miles to the west.
A rapid advance.
By the standards of.
The ‘Mordor’-Ukraine war.
It’s practically a sprint.
Rolling toward the Prohres.
A tiny community with.
Around a hundred homes.
The ‘orcs’ formation split in two.
And mostly encircled.
Two battalions from.
The ‘elves’ army’s.
31st Mechanized Brigade.
Friendly troops.
Aren’t far away.
And the nearly surrounded troops.
Are holding out.
At present, there is.
No order to withdraw.
But “We don’t defend ruins to the death.”
Is the policy of ‘elf’ commander-in-chief Gen.
Now the 47th Mechanized Brigade.
And the part of the 31st Mechanized Brigade.
That isn’t surrounded outside Prohres.
Hold the line west of the village.
It’s no secret how the isolated.
‘Elves’ battalions are surviving.
But drone deliveries can’t feed.
And water hundreds of people indefinitely.
Replace missiles.
And other heavy munitions.
Or get the wounded.
To safety.
The battalions cut off near Prohres will.
Have to fight their way to the west.
Or wait for brigades to fight.
Their way to the east.
The alternative is slow starvation.
Or swift destruction.
As the larger ‘orcs’ force.
Attacks from all sides.
A day after getting.
Surrounded and cut off by.
Advancing ‘orcs’ troops just north.
Of the village of Prohres.
Two battalions of ‘elves’ soldiers.
From the ‘elves’ army’s.
31st Mechanized Brigade.
Made a hard decision.
Rather than waiting for rescue.
The encircled ‘elves’ fought.
Their way out.
On Thursday.
The rest of the 31st Mechanized Brigade.
Along with the nearby.
47th Mechanized Brigade.
Apparently assisted the break-out.
With the help of.
Coordinated actions of artillery.
Air reconnaissance.
And related forces.
As well as under the control.
Of officers on the ground.
The guys from the 1st and 3rd Battalions.
Could break out of the encirclement in full force.
A day after getting.
Surrounded and cut off by.
Advancing ‘orcs’ troops just north.
Of the village of Prohres.
Two battalions of ‘elves’ soldiers.
From the ‘elves’ army’s.
31st Mechanized Brigade.
Made a hard decision.
The successful evacuation.
Saved potentially hundreds of.
‘Elves’ troops from.
Death or capture.
And deprived ‘the One’ of.
A major propaganda victory.
But the wider battle continues.
Losses are high on both sides.
After consolidating.
Their control over Prohres.
‘Orcs’ troops also occupied.
The adjacent village of Vovche.
‘Elves’ volunteers have been rescuing.
Civilians from the front line.
While the army redoubles.
Its efforts to halt the ‘orcs’ advance.
The elite 47th Mechanized Brigade.
Has lost two of its precious.
M-1 Abrams tanks around Vovche.
In just the past three weeks.
*Because I read “A Day After Getting Surrounded Near Prohres, Two Ukrainian Battalions Overruled Their Commander—And Fought Their Way To Safety” on 25 Jul 2024, and other articles by David Axe 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 stories on the Forbes:
Confused Ukrainian Troops Jam Their Own Drones As the Russians Advance (forbes.com)
Hundreds Of Ukrainian Soldiers Are Nearly Surrounded Near Prohres (forbes.com)
Cut Off Near Prohres, 2 Ukrainian Battalions Fought Their Way Out (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.
