For three months.
The ‘elves’ crew of a propeller-driven.
Yakovlev Yak-52 training plane.
Has been hunting down.
Dogfighting with and shooting down.
—World War I style—
‘Orcs’ surveillance drones.
Over Odesa Oblast in southern Ukraine.
The ‘orcs’ military’s frustration.
With the Yak-52 and its.
Shotgun-wielding back-seat gunner.
Crested last week.
As the trainer’s kills likely.
Exceeded a dozen drones.
“Isn’t it time to shoot him down?”
One ‘orc’ blogger wrote.
But that’s easier said than done.
‘Orcs’ surface-to-air missiles might.
Struggle to hit such a small target.
So far from ‘orcs’-occupied territory.
So ‘orcs’ forces did.
The next best thing.
—they went after the Yak-52.
On the ground at its base:
Hydroport airfield in Odesa.
On or before Monday.
An ‘orcs’ drone.
Surveilled the airfield.
Pinpointing several parked.
‘Elves’ unmanned aerial vehicles.
And hangars where the Yak-52.
May have sheltered.
An Iskander ballistic missile.
Streaked in, exploding.
Between the drones and the hangars.
And sparking several fires.
One analyst scrutinized.
Video and satellite imagery and.
Concluded that the Iskander damaged.
Three drones and several hangars.
The same attack.
Or a separate one.
Apparently also hit.
A nearby ‘elves’ air defense battery.
It’s too soon.
To say whether.
The Yak-52 was in.
One of the damaged hangars.
If the 1970s-vintage plane is gone.
It went out at the peak.
Of its effectiveness.
As a drone-killer.
It’s possible the Yak-52.
Escaped harm, of course.
If it did, its crew still has.
Some explaining to do.
The training plane’s mission.
Is to shoot down.
Surveillance drones.
In order to prevent.
The ‘orcs’ from.
Spotting targets for.
Iskanders and.
Other missiles.
But an ‘orcs’ drone flew.
Unmolested over Hydroport.
Long enough to draw a bead.
On several valuable ‘elves’ aircraft.
It’s too soon.
To say whether.
The Yak-52 was in.
One of the damaged hangars.
If the 1970s-vintage plane is gone.
It went out at the peak.
Of its effectiveness.
As a drone-killer.
Neither the Yak-52 nor.
The nearby air defense battery prevented.
The surveillance that led to.
The damaging Iskander strike.
In that sense, the Monday.
Or earlier raid on Hydroport was.
Just the latest in a long chain of.
Failures by ‘elves’ air defenses.
For three days in a row.
Starting on July 1.
‘Orcs’ drones flew over ‘elves’ air bases.
Spotting targets for Iskanders.
The ‘elves’ lost.
At least three.
Priceless fighter jets.
In those raids.
It’s too soon.
To say whether.
The Yak-52 was in.
One of the damaged hangars.
If the 1970s-vintage plane is gone.
It went out at the peak.
Of its effectiveness.
As a drone-killer.
The Yak-52 drone-killer.
Was supposed to help.
Solve ‘elves’.
Air defense crisis.
But the crisis continues.
—and the Yak-52 itself.
May be a victim.
Replacements are coming.
The ‘elves’ intelligence directorate.
Has been training gunners.
To shoot down ‘orcs’ drones.
From the passenger’s seat.
To shoot down ‘orcs’ drones.
From the passenger’s seat.
Of locally-made Aeroprakt.
A-22 sport planes.
For three months.
The ‘elves’ crew of a propeller-driven.
Yakovlev Yak-52 training plane.
Has been hunting down.
Dogfighting with and shooting down.
—World War I style—
‘Orcs’ surveillance drones.
Over Odesa Oblast in southern Ukraine.
*Because I read “Deploying Drones And Missiles, Russia Is Trying To Blow Up Ukraine’s World War I-Style Yak-52 Dogfighter” by David Axe on 18 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 Tried To Blow Up Ukraine’s World War I-Style Yak-52 Dogfighter (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.
