Her home in the small.
Mining city of Vuhledar.
In eastern Ukraine.
Was her pride and joy.
17 Sadova Street was.
Little more than a shell.
When she and her husband.
Bought it.
They lovingly renovated the house.
Painting cherry blossom and doves.
– symbols of love and well-being –
In their bedroom.
They built a swimming pool.
In the garden.
And a sauna.
In the basement.
“Everything was planned.
With such passion.”
She says, but the peace.
Wasn’t to last.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
In February 2022.
‘Orcs’ launched.
Its full-scale invasion.
Of Ukraine.
Her husband went to fight.
While she took.
Their children.
And ran.
Before fleeing.
She recorded what she thought.
Could be her last glimpse.
Of their home.
“My dear house.
I don’t know.
If you will stand or not.
I don’t know.”
“If we’ll ever return here…
Or if we’ll.
Even survive at all.”
She said in a video.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
The next time.
She saw her home was.
A year later.
In February 2023.
Through the eyes of.
An ‘orc’ soldier.
In bodycam footage.
Posted on social media.
A marine was.
In her living room.
Flicking through photos.
Of her and her family.
“Beautiful,” he said.
Looking at one photo.
It was a chilling image.
That made her angry.
“I wish I had taken.
The albums with me.”
The fleeing homeowner says.
It was a chilling image.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
Ukraine spent two and.
A half years defending Vuhledar.
And although ‘orcs’ forces.
Had launched.
A major offensive.
In 2023.
They never fully managed.
To capture the city.
Until the start of.
October 2024.
During the long battle.
As the front line shifted.
The ‘orc’ marine had led.
A group of soldiers.
To the suburbs.
In late January 2023.
And got caught in heavy fighting.
On Sadova Street.
He and some others.
Entered her home.
As his bodycam footage.
Went viral back home.
The ‘orc’ marine was hailed.
As a hero.
Official documents show that.
He was recalled from.
The front in February 2023.
Because of a leg wound.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
But what the footage.
Didn’t show was that.
The ‘orcs’ were keeping.
An ‘elf’ soldier captive.
In her basement.
Who was starving and.
In desperate need.
Of medical care.
Before the war.
The ‘elf’ soldier worked.
As an IT specialist.
When ‘orcs’ invaded his country.
He volunteered to fight.
And later became.
A drone operator.
In Vuhledar.
His love of dancing earned.
Him the nickname Dancer.
When the ‘orcs’ broke.
Through ‘elves’ lines.
In late January.
2023.
He and his comrades.
Tried to retreat.
But some of them.
Including him were shot.
Wounded, they were taken.
From house to house.
By ‘orcs’ soldiers.
With him eventually ending up.
In the basement of her home.
He was held captive.
For almost a month.
– ‘orcs’ footage uploaded online.
Shows him wrapped in.
One of her carpets.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
During the battle for Vuhledar.
There was a point.
When the ‘orcs’ soldiers retreated.
And they left him behind.
In all he spent.
46 days in her house.
And for much of that time.
He had barely any food or water.
Injured, starving.
And dehydrated.
He was unable to.
Leave the building.
“I was able to find.
Some crumbs on the floor.
There was a piece of cracker.
Which a mouse stole.”
“Which a mouse stole.
From me at night.
I hid it.
And then the mouse.”
“Probably stole it.
Because I couldn’t find it.”
But hunger was nothing.
Compared to thirst.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
One day, after.
The ‘orcs’ had left.
The desperate need for water.
Almost killed him.
He tore panels from.
A sauna in the hope that.
There might be water.
Inside the pipes.
He managed to break.
One open and drank.
Some of the liquid inside.
But it was antifreeze.
Those few sips.
Caused internal burns.
And were nearly fatal.
Then, in March that year.
When ‘elves’ forces retook.
Parts of Vuhledar.
And reached Sadova Street.
And reached Sadova Street.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
Another video went viral.
It shows ex-New Zealand soldier.
Entering number 17.
And finding him.
“New Zealand.
New Zealand, it’s me!”
The ‘elf’ prisoner shouts.
At his colleague.
Who had travelled.
To fight for Ukraine.
The colleague died in battle.
Just two weeks later.
The starving prisoner.
Was carried out.
Of the house.
And to safety.
Had he been left.
Just a few more days.
He says he wouldn’t.
Have made it.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
He still has a bullet.
In his back.
– doctors have told him.
It is too dangerous to remove it.
Several other ‘elves’ and ‘orcs’.
Soldiers are known to have died.
In and around Sadova Street.
During the battle for Vuhledar.
“Thank God he survived.
But the fact that people died.
In my house.
It shocked me.”
The fleeing homeowner says.
“There is only death in there.”
“There is only death in there.”
The fleeing homeowner says.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
Half a year after.
The ‘elf’ prisoner’s rescue.
His ‘orc’ captor was.
Being lauded at home.
Asked about the video.
From Sadova Street.
Particularly where he flicked.
Through the photos of her family.
He said he was.
Playing a “psychological trick”.
On himself due to.
The incoming gunfire.
“I grabbed the album and.
Started looking at the photos.
To distract myself.
You know, actually.”
“I felt so cold-blooded.
For a second, to be honest.
These thoughts ran through.
My mind – about who lived here.”
But when asked about her.
Directly, he said he didn’t want.
To answer any more questions.
And ended the call.
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
She is now in Germany.
As time passes.
She is trying to build.
A new life.
Learn a new language.
And find bits of work.
Here and there.
– but she still grieves.
Her lost home in Vuhledar.
“It’s so hard.
I can still see.
My house in my dreams.”
“It’s always in my head.
I still hope that.
Ukraine will win.
And everything will be fine.”
“We will come back.”
“My land is there.
The air is mine.”
“We will come back.”
A family home.
In the small city of Vuhledar.
Became the backdrop.
Of three lives.
Caught up in war:
The ‘elf’ fleeing homeowner.
The ‘elf’ starving prisoner.
And the ‘orc’ soldier.
But back on Sadova Street.
There is almost nothing left.
Of her beloved house.
Which once again is.
No more than a shell.
It can be recognized.
In drone footage shot.
From the air.
By a blue spot.
Where her swimming pool.
Used to be.
Standing out against.
Where her swimming pool.
Used to be.
Standing out against.
A backdrop of grey rubble.
*Because I read “’Russians invaded my house and held a soldier captive there’” by Victoria Arakelyan & Diana Kuryshko on 11 Oct 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, as a story of Marina, a story of Oleksii, and a story of Andrei.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
‘Russians invaded my house and held a Ukrainian soldier captive there’ (bbc.com)
**My friend kindly shows you this poem in one page of the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them! You can read my 44 poems here at once.
