Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
After stubbornly.
Staying on.
In the east ‘elves’ city.
Of Pokrovsk.
A 69-year-old.
Is now heeding.
Advice and.
Preparing to leave.
“My heart stops.
When I hear a bang.”
She tells you.
Crying.
She’s holding.
An old push-button phone.
Where emergency contacts.
Are saved.
The front line is.
Less than 8km.
From Pokrovsk.
From her home.
Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
The head of the city’s.
Military administration says.
That ‘orcs’ target the city.
Not just with ballistic missiles.
And multiple rocket launchers.
– they also now strike with.
Guided bombs.
And even artillery.
As the city is.
Now within.
The range of.
Those weapons too.
Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
Volunteers help her.
To get on an evacuation bus.
Trains no longer.
Run here.
Pokrovsk is a key.
Transportation hub.
If it falls.
Then ‘orcs’ forces will.
Cut off one of.
The main supply routes.
In the region.
This will likely.
Force Ukraine to.
Retreat from Chasiv Yar.
And the front line will.
Move closer to Kramatorsk.
For Ukraine.
This would effectively mean.
The loss of almost.
The entire Donetsk region.
Which ‘Mordor’.
Has fought to capture.
Since the beginning.
Of their invasion.
The ‘elves’ military admits.
That its incursion into.
‘Mordor’’s Kursk region.
Failed to force ‘the One’.
To divert its troops.
From eastern Ukraine.
And some observers.
Argue that this move.
Which certainly helped to boost.
Morale among the soldiers.
Left the strategic supply route.
Vulnerable to ‘orcs’ attacks.
On Sunday.
‘Orcs’ claimed to have taken.
Control of the village.
Of Novohrodivka.
Just 10km.
From Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces have.
Retreated from there.
Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
The space on.
The evacuation bus.
Quickly fills up.
Quickly fills up.
A woman with.
A five-year old daughter.
Climbs on board.
This is their second evacuation.
The first time.
It was in 2022.
When they fled from.
A border town.
After ‘orcs’ launched.
Its full-scale invasion.
Of Ukraine.
It was in 2022.
According to the head of.
Pokrovsk’s military administration.
The ratio of forces fighting.
In that direction is.
10 to one.
In ‘orcs’ favour.
This city is clearly.
‘The One’’s top priority.
Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
During its latest attack.
‘Orcs’ hit a substation.
In Pokrovsk.
Leaving half the city without power.
The strikes also.
Disrupted water supplies.
The city is quickly.
Becoming deserted.
Just two months ago.
48,000 people were.
Still living here.
Today half of them have already left.
The bustling downtown.
With shops and supermarkets.
Is eerily quiet.
Is eerily quiet.
Banks are closed.
Supermarkets are closed.
Most cafes are closed.
The hospital has been evacuated.
Outside the city.
Excavators are digging.
New trenches.
In the fields.
Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
The evacuation bus.
With the woman and.
Her cats on board.
Is full.
They have to take.
A new route as the bridge.
On the way out of town.
Is damaged by the ‘orcs’ strikes.
As the bus starts moving.
People wave through.
The windows and.
Wipe their tears away.
For her, this is.
A scary journey.
Full of uncertainties.
But she knows one thing.
– it will be safer.
In her new home.
Than remaining.
At the front line.
Fleeing the town.
She has lived.
In most of her life.
A woman is taking.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
Just one small bag.
And her two tiny kittens.
“Look what ‘orcs’.
Did to us.
I worked here.
For 30 years.”
“And now I am.
Leaving everything behind.”
She says, breaking down.
In tears.
*Because I read “Inside Pokrovsk – the vital Ukrainian town in Russia’s sights” by Abdujalil Abdurasulov on 9 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 Maria, and a story of Serhiy Dobryak.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Russian invaders close in on Pokrovsk (bbc.com)
