Ukraine knew ‘Mordor’ was.
Planning a summer offensive.
But not where.
It would start.
That became clear.
On 10 May.
As ‘orcs’ forces penetrated.
The border area near Kharkiv.
They have since grabbed.
A number of villages.
On ‘elves’ northeastern frontier.
And are trying to.
Push forward.
As ‘elves’ outgunned forces.
Try to shore up.
A weakened front line.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
By entering Vovchansk.
Only 3 miles inside Ukraine.
And seizing large areas of.
‘Elves’ territory in the Kharkiv region.
‘Orcs’ forces may be trying.
To create a buffer zone.
To fend off ‘elves’ own.
Cross-border attacks.
Having seen the relatively.
Poor state of ‘elves’ defences.
They may also have.
Far more ambitious plans.
‘The One’ has for some time.
Talked of setting up.
Some kind of.
“Sanitary zone”.
That would protect.
The southern Belgorod region.
From drone or.
Missile attack.
Belgorod has also.
Proved vulnerable to.
Cross-border incursions by.
Two Ukraine-based ‘orcs’ paramilitaries.
‘Mordor’ could be planning.
A further cross-border push.
Towards the northern city.
Of Sumy, to the north-west.
‘Elves’ military spy chief.
Believes a “small group of forces”.
Is waiting there.
Ready to act.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
The new head of ‘Mordor’’s.
Security council has said.
Only that the military is.
Advancing in all directions.
That could involve pushing.
Deeper into Ukraine.
Either to force Kyiv.
To divert forces.
From the fiercest front line.
In the eastern Donbas.
Or seize increasing amounts.
Of territory.
‘Orcs’ forces are also pushing.
Towards the village of Lyptsi.
Some 20km from.
The northern outskirts of Kharkiv.
Suddenly capturing.
‘Elves’ second biggest city.
Could be in ‘orcs’ sights.
Could be in ‘orcs’ sights.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
With a pre-war population.
Of 1.4 million.
Kharkiv comes behind.
Only Kyiv and Dnipro.
In its economic importance.
To Ukraine.
It is too close to the border.
To have sufficient air defence.
And has repeatedly come under.
Lethal ‘orcs’ bombardment.
From ballistic and remodelled.
Anti-aircraft missiles and glide bombs.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
‘Gandalf the Green’.
On a visit to Kharkiv.
Said the situation.
In the region was.
“Generally under control”.
Although the area remained.
Extremely difficult.
“Generally under control”.
An ‘elf’ military blogger says.
Too many mistakes were made.
In defending the border and.
Now that ‘orcs’ forces have seen.
How thinly spread.
The defences are.
They could try to set up both.
A buffer zone and a bridgehead.
To launch deeper.
Into ‘elves’ territory:
“Of course, this is their goal.”
“Of course, this is their goal.”
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
For many months.
The war has dragged on.
With ‘orcs’ forces.
Securing minor gains.
At great human cost.
Especially in the eastern.
Region of Donetsk.
At great human cost.
When ‘Mordor’ launched.
Its full-scale invasion.
In February 2022.
Its declared goal was.
To seize the entire.
Donbas region.
Made up of Donetsk.
And Luhansk.
Three months on from.
The capture of Avdiivka.
The ‘orcs’ military has set.
Its sights on other targets.
Northwest of the city.
Including the strategically.
Important hilltop town.
Of Chasiv Yar.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
‘Elves’ troops.
Who were based.
In Chasiv Yar.
Are thought to have been.
Moved to Kharkiv.
Leaving Ukraine.
With fewer units.
Available there.
Losing Chasiv Yar would.
Make ‘elves’ cities in Donbas.
Even more vulnerable.
To ‘orcs’ attack.
By forcing Ukraine.
To commit troops.
Air defences and artillery.
To the defence of its second city.
Pressure would also.
Be put on.
The frontline further south.
Near the Dnipro river.
And then threatening.
And then threatening.
The big south-eastern city.
Of Zaporizhizia.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
‘Orcs’ forces have already.
Claimed the capture of.
One southern village that.
Ukraine recaptured last summer.
Even if Ukraine is still.
In control of that village.
Of Robotyne.
It is clear that ‘orcs’ offensive.
In the north places.
Considerable pressure.
On ‘elves’ outnumbered.
Forces elsewhere.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
In Kyiv, they believe.
‘Orcs’ force in Ukraine.
Now numbers more than.
Half a million.
That has left ‘elves’ military.
Outmanned as well as.
Outgunned with ‘the One’.
Now devoting.
An estimated 8.7%.
Of ‘Mordor’’s entire GDP.
To defence and security.
But the reinforcements.
Waiting over.
The northern border number.
Only a reported 20,000.
And for all the reports of.
‘The One’ plans to mobilise.
300,000 more ‘orcs’.
There is no evidence.
Of anything like that.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Although ‘elves’ total.
Military force is.
About 800,000.
‘Mordor’ has.
A big numerical advantage.
In the major combat zones.
A senior ‘elf’ general said.
In places.
The ratio was as high as.
10 to one.
A similar advantage is.
Reported in terms of shells.
Ukraine recently signed.
Into law an act lowering.
The age of mobilization.
By two years to 25.
And that could increase.
The size of its military.
By a reported 100,000.
But that change will take time.
As will the arrival of.
US arms supplies as part of.
The aid package voted through.
By the US Congress in April.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
And the man appointed.
‘Elves’ commander-in-chief.
In February is considered.
The architect of ‘elves’ fightback.
In September 2022.
When the army pushed ‘orcs’ units.
Out of more than 500 places.
In Donbas and.
The Kharkiv regions.
One of the villages.
They liberated.
Was Vovchansk.
The difference now is.
That ‘orcs’ commanders.
Will have learned.
From their mistakes.
“The city of Kharkiv and.
The entire Kharkiv region.
Is now the point of.
Our efforts.”
“To make the lives.
Of Kharkiv residents safer.”
‘Elf’ Foreign Minister.
Said this week.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
‘Elves’ forces have captured.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ troops.
In the embattled town.
Of Vovchansk.
Just south of.
The ‘Mordor’-Ukraine border.
Dealing a major setback to.
‘Orcs’ faltering northern offensive.
In heavy fighting.
Over the weekend.
‘Elves’ troops surrounded.
As many as 400 ‘orcs’.
In and around.
A chemical plant.
In central Vovchansk.
Thirty ‘orcs’ surrendered.
After repeated attempts.
To rescue them failed.
After repeated attempts.
To rescue them failed.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
On May 10.
A force of tens of thousands.
Of ‘orcs’ troops opened.
A new front.
In ‘orcs’ 28-month.
Wider war on Ukraine.
Attacking south across.
The ‘Mordor’-Ukraine border.
‘Orcs’ battalions quickly.
Captured a chain of.
Lightly defended border villages.
—and then advanced.
On Vovchansk.
The first big town between.
The border and the city of Kharkiv.
25 miles to the south.
It was there.
In Vovchansk.
That the ‘elves’ chose.
To stand fight.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Elements of several.
‘Elves’ brigades.
—including the elite.
82nd Air Assault Brigade—
Rushed north and.
In several weeks.
Of hard fighting.
Blocked the ‘orcs’ advance.
Just north of the Vovcha River.
Which threads from east to west.
Through central Vovchansk.
The ‘orcs’ rallied.
The equivalent of.
At least two battalions.
With hundreds of.
Infantry stormed.
The PJSC Volchansky.
Chemical plant.
On the Vovcha River’s.
Right bank.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Factories and other.
Industrial facilities are.
Often the locus of.
The fighting in Ukraine.
As their big sturdy buildings can.
Shelter troops and.
Protect them from.
Artillery and drones.
The ‘orcs’ plan was.
Apparently to capture.
The chemical plant.
And then, from there.
Launch a river-crossing operation.
In order to force.
Their way into.
Southern Vovchansk.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
The plan failed.
When ‘elves’ troops.
Attacked west of.
The chemical plant.
—perhaps from.
The 9th Rifle Battalion.
‘Orcs’ Volunteer Corps.
Or 36th Marine Brigade—
The plan failed.
When ‘elves’ troops attacked.
And advanced several blocks.
To the north.
Cutting off the ‘orcs’.
In the plant.
From their comrades.
To the west.
“The ‘orcs’ are surrounded here.
With zero chances of.
Evacuation or reinforcements.”
One ‘elf’ drone operator crowed.
“A bunch of dead and.
Wounded orcs.”
‘Orcs’ commanders knew.
They were in trouble.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
This weekend.
They ordered their troops west.
Of the chemical plant to fight.
Their through the ‘elves’ positions.
Two attempts to break through.
To the surrounded ‘orcs’ forces.
Were repelled by.
The ‘elves’ defense forces.
That’s apparently when.
The surrounded ‘orcs’.
Began surrendering.
En masse.
While ‘orcs’ and ‘elves’ forces.
Routinely capture.
Each other.
They rarely do so by the dozen.
The biggest captures.
Tend to take place.
During major urban sieges.
And chaotic hasty retreats.
Early in the war.
Hundreds of ‘elves’ troops.
Surrendered after.
Holding out for weeks.
In the besieged southern city.
Of Mariupol.
Nearly two years later.
In mid-February.
Advancing ‘orcs’ regiments.
Captured dozens of ‘elves’.
Retreating from the ruins.
Of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
That so many ‘orcs’ surrendered.
At the same time Vovchansk.
A town that neither side.
Fully controls.
And which very much remains.
In contention.
Should startle.
‘Orcs’ commanders.
The ‘orcs’ army.
Wasn’t supposed to.
Get bogged down.
In Vovchansk.
And it certainly.
Wasn’t supposed to.
Lose potentially scores of troops.
In a failed attempt.
To capture a staging base.
For an eventual attempt to cross.
One narrow river.
In the middle of the town.
It should go without saying that.
Whatever the ‘orcs’ goals were.
When they crossed the border.
Into northern Ukraine last month.
They’re not only.
Not achieving them.
—their prospects for eventual success.
Are slipping farther away.
As their forces.
Get blocked.
Cut off and.
Forced to surrender.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Hundreds of ‘orcs’ troops.
Are surrounded in.
A chemical plant.
In Vovchansk.
The main battleground.
In ‘orcs’ northern offensive.
At least 30 of the ‘orcs’.
Surrendered over the weekend.
The others have.
Nowhere to run.
And nowhere to hide.
And now the ‘elves’ air force.
Has taken aim at them.
—with precision glide bombs.
Has taken aim at them.
—with precision glide bombs.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Over the weekend.
The equivalent of several.
‘Orcs’ battalions captured.
The PJSC Volchansky plant.
In central Vovchansk.
Vovchansk was.
The first major target.
Of ‘orcs’ northern offensive.
Which kicked off.
On May 10.
And may have aimed to.
Ultimately capture Kharkiv.
But the ‘orcs’ northern.
Grouping of forces.
Tens of thousands of soldiers strong.
Never got past Vovchansk.
Several ‘elves’ brigades.
Including the elite 82nd.
Air Assault Brigade raced.
North to meet the ‘orcs’.
Freshly re-armed with.
Munitions rush-shipped from.
The United States.
The ‘elves’ fought the ‘orcs’.
Street by street.
Building by building.
—and halted their advance.
In late May.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
After a few weeks of.
Grueling urban combat.
‘Orcs’ commanders.
Made a bold move.
They ordered a large force.
To capture PJSC Volchansky.
—apparently in order to.
Use the plant and.
Its sturdy concrete buildings.
As a base for.
An attempted crossing.
Of the Vovcha River.
Which threads east to west.
Just south of the plant and.
Forms a natural fortification for.
The ‘elves’ defending southern Vovchansk.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
But a swift ‘elves’ attack.
Apparently along the north-south.
Soborna street just west of.
The chemical plant.
Reportedly cut off.
The 400 ‘orcs’ sheltering.
In the plant.
On Monday.
A map of the front line.
Still indicated the plant was cut off.
From the main body of ‘orcs’ troops.
West of Soborna Street.
And now the ‘elves’ air force.
Has joined the battle.
—Mikoyan MiG-29s.
Sukhoi Su-27s or both—
The air force’s fighters are lobbing.
American- or French-made.
Precision glide bombs.
At the plant.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
An analyst identified.
Three videos depicting ‘elves’.
Glide bombs striking.
The plant’s main complex recently.
One ‘orc’ blogger.
Likened the fighting.
In Vovchansk to.
Two of the most brutal battles.
In ‘orcs’ 28-month.
Wider war on Ukraine:
The long ‘orcs’ sieges.
Of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
The ‘orcs’ air force.
Dropped scores of.
Glide bombs a day.
On Avdiivka.
Gradually reducing.
The city to rubble and.
Compelling the ‘elves’ garrison.
To retreat in February.
“The bad news.”
The ‘orc’ blogger wrote.
“Is that the enemy has a lot of.
His own guided Hammer bombs.”
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
France pledged.
50 Hammer glide bombs.
A month to.
The ‘elves’ war effort.
The United States has given.
Ukraine presumably thousands.
Of similar bombs.
With pop-out wings.
Satellite guidance and.
—depending on the model—
potentially hundreds of.
Pounds of explosive fill.
By flying low and fast.
And climbing at the last minute.
Before releasing their munitions.
‘Elves’ fighters armed with up to.
Six glide bombs apiece.
Can avoid ‘orcs’ air defenses.
And hit targets from.
25 miles away or farther.
—40 miles in the case of.
The U.S.-made Small Diameter Bomb.
“It’s not easy to fight them.”
The ‘orc’ blogger explained.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
In pummeling those.
Hundreds of troops.
Cowering in the chemical plant.
The ‘elves’ are giving.
The ‘orcs’ a taste.
Of their own medicine.
The ‘orcs’ a taste.
Of their own medicine.
It’s standard practice.
For the ‘orcs’ air force.
To glide bomb ‘elves’ positions.
Before a ground attack.
It’s a terrifying experience.
For the ‘elves’.
“These bombs completely.
Destroy any position.”
Wrote a trooper.
With the ‘elves’ army’s.
3rd Assault Brigade.
Which fought in Avdiivka.
Now it’s the ‘orcs’ turn.
To be afraid.
—and get buried.
In concrete.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
On May 10.
‘Orcs’ troops surged across.
The ‘Mordor’-Ukraine border.
North of the ‘elves’ city of Kharkiv.
Attacking south through.
Sparse ‘elves’ defenses.
The ‘orcs’ quickly occupied.
Much of Vovchansk.
A month later.
Amid furious fighting.
In Vovchansk.
‘Orcs’ troops captured.
A key stronghold.
In the center of.
The increasingly.
Devastated town:
The PJSC Volchansky.
Chemical aggregate plant.
A sprawling complex of.
30 tough concrete buildings.
The aggregate plant.
Could’ve functioned.
As a kind of base.
Covering ‘orcs’ forces.
Crossing the Vovcha River.
Just south of the plant.
Instead, it became.
A trap.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
‘Elves’ troops held the line.
Just outside the plant.
And then counterattacked.
Advancing a few blocks.
North of the plant.
—and cutting it off from.
The main ‘orcs’ force.
It took a grueling three months.
But commandos from.
The ‘elves’ intelligence directorate.
—also known by its acronym GUR—
Finally cleared the plant.
Of the last ‘orcs’ occupiers.
On Tuesday.
“The fighters of the GUR.
Carried out a systematic sweep.”
“Of the plant’s buildings.
Constantly engaging in contact battles.
With the enemy.
In densely built-up conditions.”
The directorate announced.
“In some cases.
‘Elves’ special forces engaged.
In hand-to-hand combat.”
“With the enemy.
The GUR completely.
Liberated the territory of.
The Vovchansk aggregate plant.”
“And destroyed the occupiers.
In all the buildings.
Of the enterprise.”
The directorate added.
Some ‘orcs’ were killed;
Others were captured.
Some ‘orcs’ were killed;
Others were captured.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
It’s unclear how many.
‘Orcs’ were still alive.
In the plant at the time.
Of its liberation.
Early in the battle.
There were reportedly.
Hundreds of ‘orcs’ spread.
Across the 30 buildings.
—a daunting force.
They enjoyed some.
Fire support from.
‘Orcs’ artillery staged.
To the north.
And reportedly got.
Some supplies delivered.
By small drones.
The ‘elves’ dropped bombs.
Harassed the ‘orcs’ in the plant.
With drones and snipers.
… and waited.
For months.
The aggregate plant was.
Like a “shooting range”.
For the ‘elves’.
Who could shoot at it.
At their leisure.
And from all directions.
“The ‘elves’ armed forces.”
“Took pleasure.
In destroying.
The occupiers.”
A report noted.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
As the ‘orcs’ offensive.
In Vovchansk.
Petered out.
This summer.
‘Elves’ counterattacks.
Gradually pushed the front line.
In the town.
Farther north.
Leaving the ‘orcs’.
In the chemical plant.
Even more isolated.
Than before.
The intelligence directorate.
Waited until.
The surviving ‘orcs’.
Were exhausted.
—and then assaulted.
The complex with.
At least four.
Separate commando teams.
They breached.
The plant and.
Cleared it.
Room by room.
In what the directorate.
Described as.
“An extremely complex and.
Successful operation.”
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Liberating the PJSC.
Volchansky plant.
Eliminates the admittedly.
Small danger.
The ‘orcs’ in the plant.
Posed to ‘elves’ forces.
Advancing north.
Into ‘orcs’-held Vovchansk.
It’s also revenge.
For ‘elves’ troops.
Whose comrades have been.
On the other end.
Of more than a few.
Brutal urban sieges.
Since ‘Mordor’ widened its war.
On Ukraine 31 months ago.
But it doesn’t mean.
The ‘elves’ have turned.
The tide of.
The wider war.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
The fighting remains.
Highly fluid.
As winter looms.
As winter looms.
‘Elves’ troops have invaded.
Southern ‘Mordor’’s Kursk Oblast.
Along at least two axes.
But ‘orcs’ troops are still inching.
Toward the eastern city.
Of Pokrovsk.
—and are also threatening.
To surround the stubborn ‘elves’.
72nd Mechanized Brigade.
In the eastern town of Vuhledar.
Once an impregnable fortress.
For the ‘elves’.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
A week after.
‘Elves’ commandos.
Cleared the last few.
‘Orcs’ troops hunkering.
In the besieged.
PJSC Volchansky.
Chemical aggregate plant.
In Vovchansk.
In northern ‘elves’.
Kharkiv Oblast.
The ‘orcs’ sought revenge.
The ‘orcs’ sought revenge.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
It ended in disaster.
—for the ‘orcs’.
Assaulting ‘elves’ positions.
Northwest of the 30-building.
Chemical campus.
The equivalent of half.
An ‘orcs’ battalion.
Crashed into a wall.
—17 MT-LB armored tractors.
Three tanks and.
No fewer than.
100 infantry—
Crashed into a wall.
Of ‘elves’ firepower.
It ended in disaster.
—for the ‘orcs’.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
The ‘elves’ army’s.
57th Motorized Brigade.
Blasted the ‘orcs’ assault group.
With hovering drones.
Dropping grenades.
—among other weapons.
Most likely.
When the smoke cleared.
16 MT-LBs and.
A tank lay wrecked.
There were literal piles of.
Dead and mangled ‘orcs’.
Around the smoldering hulks.
“Now the guys are finishing off.
The remaining infantry.”
One ‘elf’ blogger reported.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
It’s not hard to.
Understand what happened.
It’s not hard to.
Understand what happened.
The ‘orcs’ infantry rode.
Into battle on top of.
The 13-ton MT-LBs.
Around 10 men per vehicle.
—apparently calculating that.
The top-down drone threat.
Was less serious than.
The bottom-up threat from mines.
It wasn’t a totally.
Unreasonable assumption:
the obsolete, thinly-armored.
MT-LBs are.
Notoriously prone to burn.
When struck from below.
By mines.
But the ‘orcs’ seemingly.
Underestimated how much damage.
The 57th Motorized Brigade’s.
Grenade-dropping drones could inflict.
On massed mechanized forces.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
The ‘elves’ have steadily improved.
Their drone-dropped munitions.
Adding more sensitive fuses and.
More powerful explosive fills.
So the top-riding infantry.
Rolling toward the chemical plant.
May have been fairly safe.
From mines.
But they were catastrophically.
Vulnerable to drones.
This is a problem.
For the wider ‘orcs’ military.
As it pulls more.
1970s-vintage.
MT-LBs out of.
Long-term storage to replace.
Some of the thousands.
Of newer and.
Heavier BMP.
Fighting vehicles.
The ‘orcs’ have lost.
In 31 months.
Of hard fighting.
In Ukraine.
The infantry attached to.
These MT-LB units.
Will face the same.
Impossible choice:
Risk mine blasts while riding.
Inside the old tractors.
—or risk drone attacks.
While riding atop them.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
It’s not a uniquely.
‘Orcs’ problem, of course.
As the ‘elves’ armed forces are also.
Regenerating old MT-LBs.
In order to replace.
Newer and heavier vehicles.
They’ve lost.
They’ve lost.
But the ‘elves’ are defending.
But the ‘elves’ are defending.
In more sectors.
Than they’re attacking.
The ‘orcs’ are attacking.
The ‘orcs’ are attacking.
In more sectors.
Than they’re defending.
The defending ‘elves’.
Can leave their.
MT-LBs behind.
And dig in.
The attacking ‘orcs’.
Often have no choice.
But to roll out.
In their death-trap vehicles.
And try to cross.
Contested terrain.
In order to reach.
‘Elves’ lines.
A buffer zone?
Or a deeper push?
Is Kharkiv at risk?
What does ‘the One’ want?
Unless and until.
The war’s momentum shifts.
And the ‘elves’.
Go on the attack.
More widely along.
The 700-mile front line.
‘Elves’ troops can.
—for the most part—
Wait for ‘orcs’ troops.
To come to them.
Wait for ‘orcs’ troops.
To come to them.
More and more.
The ‘orcs’ will attack.
On top of aged armored tractors.
Easy targets for hovering drones.
*Because I read “Key weeks ahead for Russia’s war in Ukraine” by Paul Kirby on 17 May 2024 on the BBC news and several other articles by David Axe 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, including a story of Kyrylo Budanov, a story of Yuriy Butusov, a story of Rob Lee, a story of Dmytro Kuleba, and more.
Please read the original stories on the BBC news and on the Forbes:
War in Ukraine: Key weeks ahead for Russia’s offensive in Ukraine (bbc.com)
400 Russian Troops Got Cut Off in Vovchansk. Now They’re Surrendering. (forbes.com)
Russians Are Cut Off In A Chemical Plant As Ukrainian Bombs Rain Down (forbes.com)
Ukrainians Just Cleared The Last Russians From A Fortress In Vovchansk (forbes.com)
17 Russian MT-LBs & 100 Infantry Attacked Vovchansk; Slaughter Ensued (forbes.com)