People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
At least 51 people.
Have been killed and.
271 others.
Injured in an ‘orcs’ missile strike.
On the city of Poltava.
In central Ukraine.
A military academy and.
A nearby hospital were hit.
‘Elves’ land forces.
Confirmed that.
Military personnel were killed.
In the attack.
‘Gandalf the Green’ promised that.
What he called “‘orcs’ scum”.
Would pay for the attack.
And repeated calls for more.
More air defences so that.
Ukraine could protect itself.
by carrying out its own.
Long-range missile attacks.
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
People nearby said.
Their windows were blown out.
By the force.
Of the impact.
A 26-year-old cadet.
Only started at the Poltava.
Military Communications Institute.
Two weeks ago.
He described the moment.
The attack unfolded.
Just after 09:00 local time.
On Tuesday morning.
Saying the second missile.
Hit just three seconds.
After the first.
“I ran outside.”
“There was smoke.
And dust everywhere…
Lots of people were outside.
Having a cigarette.”
“And many were killed…”
He says that what he saw.
Has affected him.
Psychologically, that there was.
“Too much blood.
Too many dead bodies.”
“Too much blood.
Too many dead bodies.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
Alarms sounded.
At 09:08 local time.
And everyone headed.
To the shelter.
The explosions started.
A few minutes after the alarms.
A thirty-year-old.
Was one of them.
She was woken.
By the air raid siren.
But did not have time.
To reach a shelter.
For her, the attack is personal.
Her husband is fighting.
On the front line.
In the Donbas region.
“Soldiers have died here.
And I know there are still soldiers.
Still under the rubble.
Their wives are waiting for them.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
An ‘elf’ MP said the two minutes.
Between the air raid siren in Poltava.
And the missiles landing.
Was “nothing”.
“You just imagine.
You’re on the sixth floor.
Of some building and.
You need to run away downstairs.”
“Is it realistic?
That you can do this?
In two minutes?
Just imagine this life.”
“And like this.
Several times per day.
We can’t continue like this.
It’s just not fair.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
Firefighters have been.
On the scene.
With all their equipment.
Clearing out buildings.
And army personnel.
Outside have stopped people.
They cannot get too close.
Due to the sensitivity of the site.
Earlier, one Poltava resident said:
“The air raid alert started.
In just a minute.
And then there were two explosions.”
“At home, we immediately.
Ran into the bathroom.
With the child, but then.
Gathered ourselves”.
She added that there is.
No bomb shelter “in our radius”.
And it “takes a long time.
To run somewhere”.
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
Another local heard.
“Two very strong explosions”.
And called the situation.
“Really scary”.
“Really scary”.
“There is a house nearby.
Everything was blown out.
All the windows.”
“We don’t have a basement.
In our house.
So our only option was.
To sit and wait.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
Poltava regional governor.
Called the attack.
A “cunning and cynical.
‘Orcs’ strike.”
And later said that.
15 people were still.
Thought to be trapped.
Under the rubble.
He said search groups.
Were on site, and that.
10 residential buildings.
Had been damaged in the attack.
More details could not.
Immediately be given.
Due to security reasons.
The regional governor said.
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
‘Elf’ first lady posted.
On X calling the attack.
“A stunning tragedy.
For all of Ukraine.”
And added:
“‘Mordor’ is taking away.
The most valuable thing.
From us – life.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
In a video, ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Said ‘Mordor’ would be.
Held accountable.
For the strike.
In the clip, which was.
Also posted on X.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
A “full and prompt” investigation.
Had been ordered.
And that “all necessary services.
Are involved in.
The rescue operation”.
He went on to say that.
Ukraine needed long-range.
Air defence systems “that can.
Protect us from ‘orcs’ terror”.
And added that.
“Every day of delay.
Unfortunately, means.
More lost lives”.
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
Officials said.
271 people had been.
Wounded in the ‘orcs’ strikes.
On Poltava.
And by Wednesday afternoon.
400 people had.
Already given blood.
At the main regional hospital.
Among them.
Was a man, 38.
Who was badly wounded.
On the frontline.
Last year.
In the fierce battle.
For the eastern city.
Of Bakhmut.
He pointed to scars.
On his neck.
And back where.
He had been shot.
By ‘orcs’ troops.
While he was on patrol.
“At the moment.
I can only give people.
“My blood, my support.
I can talk to them.
And try to understand.
Because I passed through this.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
Poltava is observing.
Three days of mourning.
And there was an eerie quiet.
Throughout the hospital.
An ‘elves’ flag flew.
Outside the building.
With a black ribbon attached.
While inside.
The corridors of.
The blood donation ward.
Were filled as people.
Waited their turn.
The doctor in charge of.
Blood donation said.
The people of Poltava.
Had joined together.
At an unimaginably difficult time:
“This is something.
I’ve never seen in my 16 years.
As a chief doctor.”
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
In a statement confirming.
The deaths of military personnel.
‘Elves’ land forces said.
An investigation was under way.
To establish whether.
Enough was done to protect.
Those in the facility.
The missile hit.
People did not have.
Enough time to get.
To bomb shelters after.
The air raid alarm sounded.
*Because I read “Ukraine says soldiers among 51 killed in Poltava missile attack” by Jamie Whitehead & Nick Beake, “Mother and daughters killed in new wave of strikes on Ukraine” by Paul Kirby, both on 4 Sep 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, including a story of Mykyta, a story of Yana, a story of Oleksiy Goncharenko, a story of Olena, a story of Anastasiia, a story of Philip Pronin, a story of Oleksandr, and a story of Volodymyr Rudikov.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news:
Ukraine says soldiers among 51 killed in Poltava missile attack (bbc.com)
Seven dead in Lviv in fresh wave of strikes on Ukraine (bbc.com)
