Last weekend.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Kyiv would like.
To end the war.
Kyiv would like.
To end the war.
Through “diplomatic means”.
In 2025.
The war, he said.
Would end “sooner”.
With the new president.
In the White House.
It was classic.
‘Gandalf the Green’:
Part flattery.
Part challenge.
‘Orcs’ launched an enormous.
Ballistic missile strike.
On Dnipro.
Overnight too.
It was felt.
Across the city and.
Sent everyone.
To bomb shelters.
Among many of those.
Who have paid.
The heaviest price.
For ‘orcs’ invasion.
Peace cannot.
Come soon enough.
Even if that means.
Further sacrifices.
In Dnipro.
A steady stream of.
Injured soldiers.
Comes through the doors.
Of one of the country’s.
Many prosthetic centres.
A man, 27.
Lost a leg when.
Lost a leg when.
His unit came under.
Missile attack.
18 months ago.
He’s already used to.
His carbon fibre limb.
And is even training for.
Next year’s Invictus Games.
But when it comes.
To the war.
He’s less optimistic.
“I think most likely.”
“Two regions.
Donetsk and Luhansk.
Will be taken from us.
And Crimea.”
“I am not confident.
We will push them back.
From those regions.
We have neither people nor weapons.”
A growing minority.
Say they’re willing to.
Give up territory.
To secure peace.
Opinion polls paint.
A mixed picture.
But show that more and more.
‘Elves’ want this war to end, soon.
Especially here.
In the east.
Where the sirens sound.
Several times a day.
A growing minority.
Say they’re willing to.
Give up territory.
To secure peace.
“I think that.
The end of the war.
Will happen.”
Says a 28-year-old.
When you ask him.
What he expects when.
The new US president.
Takes office.
He is being fitted.
With his first prosthetic.
After losing a leg.
Three months ago.
“Either they will.
Agree and go to.
The 1991 borders.
Or the territories.”
“Will be surrendered.
The main thing is.
That the war ends.
And people stop dying.”
Among many of those.
Who have paid.
The heaviest price.
For ‘orcs’ invasion.
Peace cannot.
Come soon enough.
Even if that means.
Further sacrifices.
As the ‘orcs’ army slowly.
Advances in eastern Ukraine.
It’s driving a tide of.
Human suffering before it.
With two months to go.
Before a change of.
Administration in Washington.
Ukraine is wrestling.
With two problems:
How to stem the advance.
And how to prepare for.
The new president of the US.
Last weekend.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Kyiv would like.
To end the war.
Kyiv would like.
To end the war.
Through “diplomatic means”.
In 2025.
The war, he said.
Would end “sooner”.
With the new president.
In the White House.
*Because I read “Ukraine’s double challenge: Russia’s advance and the return of Trump” by Paul Adams on 21 Nov 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 Demian, and a story of Andrii.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine’s double challenge: Russia’s advance and the return of Trump
