In ‘elves’ Sumy region.
You travelled under.
Military escort to.
A new ‘elves’ base.
Just a few miles away.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
Just a few miles away.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
Along the way.
You passed whole streets.
Blasted to pieces by.
Previous ‘orcs’ artillery fire.
The civilians had long gone.
And the only human life.
Was clad in the green and.
Driving army vehicles.
As you arrive at the camp.
An armoured personnel carrier.
Fresh from the Kursk incursion.
Roars into life.
And springs up backwards.
Out of its sunken.
Hiding place.
It pivots and then.
Speeds off through.
The canopy lined track.
Leaving a huge plume.
Of copper-coloured dust.
What was it like?
Fighting the ‘orcs’?
On their home soil?
“I worried for myself.”
“And for my group.
For my servicemen.
For everyone.
Of course, there was fear.”
“The ‘orcs’ soldiers who surrendered.
We took as prisoners of war.
The ‘orcs’ who attacked us.
We killed.”
It’s a blunt synopsis.
From the ‘elf’ commander.
His 22nd Mechanised Brigade.
Was the first to enter.
‘Orcs’ territory and now.
He’s returned to tell the tale.
“We went far into the Kursk region.
We were alone.”
“As the forward team.
We were on foreign soil.
And we felt like foreigners.
Not in our home.”
What was it like?
Fighting the ‘orcs’?
On their home soil?
“I worried for myself.”
“And for my group.
For my servicemen.
For everyone.
Of course, there was fear.”
A father of five.
With five degrees.
He cuts a distinctive shadow.
In the dense forest.
A giant of a man.
With greying goatee.
And military tattoos.
On the skin.
Not covered by.
His army fatigues.
And body armour.
“That’s us, in there.”
He says showing you.
A video on his phone of.
An APC tearing through.
The ‘Mordor’’s countryside.
What was it like?
Fighting the ‘orcs’?
On their home soil?
“I worried for myself.”
“And for my group.
For my servicemen.
For everyone.
Of course, there was fear.”
Like all of.
The ‘elves’ military you met.
He is understandably reluctant.
To give any operational information.
Which may help the ‘orcs’.
So when you ask if he knows.
How long he’ll stay on ‘orcs’ territory.
When he returns.
It is an answer.
Predictably long.
On patriotism and.
Short on specifics.
“We are fulfilling.
An order.
We’ll be there.
As long as we are told to.”
“If we are told to move forward.
We will move forward.
If they tell us to withdraw.
We will withdraw.”
He continues.
In the same vein:
“If we have an order.
To move forward.”
“We can get to Moscow.
– and we’ll show what Ukraine means.
And what are our guys are like.
– real Cossacks.”
What was it like?
Fighting the ‘orcs’?
On their home soil?
“I worried for myself.”
“And for my group.
For my servicemen.
For everyone.
Of course, there was fear.”
It’s been reported.
That Ukraine sent up to.
10,000 elite troops.
Into ‘Mordor’.
As part of its rapid advance.
The ‘orcs’ defence ministry.
Claims Kyiv has suffered.
Thousands of casualties.
The head of the ‘elves’ army.
Gen announced the ‘orcs’.
Had now sent 30,000.
Troops to defend Kursk.
In ‘elves’ Sumy region.
You travelled under.
Military escort to.
A new ‘elves’ base.
Just a few miles away.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
Just a few miles away.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
In another clandestine location.
A team clambers out of.
A German-made Bergepanzer.
Armoured recovery vehicle.
The driver is.
A father of two.
Who hasn’t seen his.
Two children for three years.
They escaped to Italy.
With their mother in the weeks.
After ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
In February 2022.
While we’re unable to.
Ascertain the level of.
‘Elves’ losses.
It’s clear that.
He has been busy.
Bringing back.
Damaged and destroyed.
Vehicles from inside ‘Mordor’.
“I want this war.
To come to an end.”
He tells you wearily.
In very good English.
“That’s because there is.
No reason for this war.
One man, ‘the One’.
Attacked our country.”
“So what do we have to do?
We must defend our home.
Defending, defending, defending.
But Ukraine is the smaller country.”
While we’re unable to.
Ascertain the level of.
‘Elves’ losses.
It’s clear that.
He has been busy.
Bringing back.
Damaged and destroyed.
Vehicles from inside ‘Mordor’.
The mismatch between.
‘Orcs’ and ‘elves’ remains.
A key thread.
Of ‘Gandalf the Green’’s.
Ongoing call for.
Greater Western help.
Through taking the fight into ‘Mordor’.
Ukraine galvanized its public.
But worried some allies.
Who remain fearful of.
‘The One’’s response and.
The spectre of a wider conflict.
So far, ‘the One’.
Has largely ignored.
At least publicly, the wound.
Inflicted on his country’s side.
Ukraine says that.
Unlike ‘Mordor’.
It doesn’t have.
Unlimited reserves.
Of conscripts to catapult.
To the frontline.
Ukraine says that.
Unlike ‘Mordor’.
In ‘elves’ Sumy region.
You travelled under.
Military escort to.
A new ‘elves’ base.
Just a few miles away.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
Just a few miles away.
From the ‘orcs’ border.
*Because I read “Meeting the Ukrainian recruits preparing for new battle” by Nick Beake on 2 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 “Storm”, and a story of “Producer”.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Russia-Ukraine war: Meeting the recruits preparing for battle (bbc.com)
