There’s a road underpass.
On the eastern edge of Selydove.
A town in eastern Ukraine.
Just south of Pokrovsk.
—the latter, a key ‘elves’ stronghold—
That’s fast becoming.
The locus of the brutal fighting.
In the town.
On Wednesday.
A pair of ‘orcs’ armored vehicles.
Dropped off their infantry.
At the underpass.
—and promptly got blasted.
By an ‘elves’ T-64 tank.
Firing from just.
A few yards away.
A day later.
The crew of a similar.
‘Elves’ tank.
—or maybe.
Even the same one—
Pulled off.
A daring heist.
At the same underpass.
The tankers discovered.
An abandoned.
‘Orcs’ T-72 tank.
—and stole it.
This is not the first time.
‘Elves’ forces have nabbed.
An intact but abandoned.
‘Orcs’ T-72.
In any event.
The tank was a ripe prize.
For anyone brave.
Enough to recover it.
In April.
‘Elves’ troops from.
The 12th Azov Brigade.
Staged a three-day operation.
To swap out the batteries.
In an immobilized.
T-72 and drive it across.
The eastern no-man’s-land.
To the safety of.
‘Elves’ lines around Terny.
What’s special about.
The Thursday heist is.
That it mostly occurred.
Under armor.
Selydove is an extremely.
Dangerous place right now.
As the ‘orcs’ 2nd.
Combined Arms Army.
Closes in.
Aiming to flank Pokrovsk.
This is not the first time.
‘Elves’ forces have nabbed.
An intact but abandoned.
‘Orcs’ T-72.
In any event.
The tank was a ripe prize.
For anyone brave.
Enough to recover it.
So the ‘elves’ tankers.
Towed away the T-72.
Using their own.
T-64 as the tractor.
A drone from.
The ‘elves’ national guard’s.
Kara-Dag Brigade.
Was watching when.
On Thursday.
That T-72 rolled up.
To the underpass.
And sheltered.
Amid the wreckage.
From Wednesday’s skirmish.
In the same location.
The ‘orcs’ tank fired.
The up-armored, camouflaged.
‘Orcs’ tank fired.
At least one.
125-millimeter round.
At something to the north.
And then, shockingly.
The three crew bailed out.
Of the 46-ton tank.
At least one.
‘Elves’ FPV drone.
Targeted the fleeing.
‘Orcs’ tankers.
This is not the first time.
‘Elves’ forces have nabbed.
An intact but abandoned.
‘Orcs’ T-72.
In any event.
The tank was a ripe prize.
For anyone brave.
Enough to recover it.
It’s unclear.
Why the ‘orcs’.
Abandoned their.
Undamaged T-72.
It’s possible.
The vehicle suffered.
Some kind of mechanical failure.
—perhaps an engine problem.
In the April heist.
The sheer density of.
Buried mines made.
The no-man’s-land.
Extremely dangerous.
For armored vehicles.
From either side:
It was safer.
Although hardly safe.
To send soldiers on foot.
To fetch the abandoned T-72.
—albeit only at night.
But mines are apparently.
Less of a threat in Selydove.
Battlefield conditions favored.
An under-armor recovery.
This is not the first time.
‘Elves’ forces have nabbed.
An intact but abandoned.
‘Orcs’ T-72.
In any event.
The tank was a ripe prize.
For anyone brave.
Enough to recover it.
The Kara-Dag Brigade’s.
42-ton T-64s.
Have been roaming the town.
With unusual freedom.
Even in broad daylight.
—perhaps compensating.
For an extreme shortage.
Of infantry.
That has vexed.
The entire ‘elves’ military.
In recent months.
In recent months.
The T-64’s three crew.
Spotted the unoccupied.
‘Orcs’ T-72 and.
Rushed into action.
The drone continued.
To observe as.
Under the cover of.
A smoke screen.
The ‘elves’ attached.
A towing cable.
To the T-72.
A video montage released.
By the Kara-Dag Brigade.
Ends with the T-64 dragging.
The T-72 away to the west.
—toward the main ‘elves’ line.
This is not the first time.
‘Elves’ forces have nabbed.
An intact but abandoned.
‘Orcs’ T-72.
In any event.
The tank was a ripe prize.
For anyone brave.
Enough to recover it.
Losing one tank won’t doom.
‘Orcs’ 11-month offensive.
Along the axis.
From Avdiivka to Pokrovsk.
By the same token.
The ‘elves’ nabbing one tank.
Won’t save Pokrovsk.
Or surrounding towns.
From destruction and capture.
By an ‘orcs’ field army.
That’s four times bigger than.
The local ‘elves’ garrison.
But Thursday’s tank heist.
Is still a win for Ukraine.
Perhaps most importantly.
It’s a morale-booster.
—a demonstration of the kind.
Of courage and ingenuity.
The ‘elves’ will need to eventually win.
The ongoing battle for Pokrovsk.
*Because I read “Under The Cover Of Smoke, A Ukrainian Tank Crew Pulled Off A Daring Heist At A Notorious Selydove Underpass—And Stole A Russian T-72” by David Axe on 5 Sep 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:
A Ukrainian Tank Crew Staged A Daring Heist—Stealing A Russian T-72 (forbes.com)
