One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
After nearly three months.
Training in Poland and France.
The 155th.
Mechanized Brigade.
Is arguably the best.
—and certainly.
The most heavily-armed—
Of the dozen or so new brigades.
The ‘elves’ armed forces.
Have formed.
In recent months.
But that doesn’t mean.
But that doesn’t mean.
The 155th.
Mechanized Brigade.
Is ready for combat.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
It may be missing.
Critical equipment.
After an initial round.
Of expansion.
Following ‘orcs’ wider.
Invasion of Ukraine.
In February 2022.
The ‘elves’ ground forces.
—the army.
Air assault forces.
Marine corps.
National guard and territorials—
The ‘elves’ ground forces.
Could deploy.
A hundred brigades each.
With around 2,000 people.
It was one of the biggest.
Active land forces.
In the world.
—and it wasn’t enough.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
Outnumbered and.
Outgunned by.
The ‘orcs’ military.
And overstretched.
And overstretched.
Along the 800-mile.
Front line of.
The wider war.
The best ‘elves’ brigades.
Never got a chance.
To disengage for.
Rest and maintenance.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
The elite 47th.
Mechanized Brigade.
The main user of ‘elves’.
American-made armored vehicles.
Was in bloody combat.
For 15 months.
Before it finally rotated off.
The front line this fall.
—but even this belated break.
Came to an abrupt end.
When ‘elves’ invasion.
Of Kursk Oblast.
When ‘elves’ invasion.
Of Kursk Oblast.
In western ‘Mordor’ drew.
The brigade back into action.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine’s.
Southern Donetsk Oblast.
The 72nd Mechanized Brigade.
Spent two years.
Defending the fortress town.
Of Vuhledar.
Ground down and.
Desperate for relief.
That never arrived.
The brigade finally.
Retreated in September.
Surrendering a key sector.
Surrendering a key sector.
To the attacking ‘orcs’.
‘Elves’ war-weary brigades.
Need help.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
Four new army brigades.
That formed in late 2023.
Offered only.
Partial relief.
Starting this spring.
The army stood up.
Another seven brigades.
Owing to a shortage of.
Owing to a shortage of.
Heavy armored vehicles.
Most of the new units.
Were infantry brigades.
At first.
—and only.
Later gained vehicles …
And new designations.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
The 155th.
Mechanized Brigade.
Formed in May.
But it mostly existed.
On paper.
Until September.
When 2,300 ‘elves’ soldiers.
—the bulk of the new brigade—
Flew to France.
And began training.
Alongside 1,500.
French army instructors.
At the same time.
A few hundred soldiers.
From the 155th.
Mechanized Brigade’s.
Tank battalion.
Arrived in Poland.
To train with.
The Polish army.
The French outfitted.
The 155th.
Mechanized Brigade.
With Caesar.
Self-propelled howitzers.
AMX-10RC.
Reconnaissance vehicles.
And heavy mortars.
The Poles handed over.
31 Leopard 2A4 tanks.
Apparently drawn from.
Spanish surplus stocks.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
The 155th.
Mechanized Brigade isn’t.
The best-equipped.
‘Elves’ brigade.
But it’s in the top tier.
And it should be able.
To trade laces with.
The 47th Mechanized Brigade.
Or some other exhausted.
Heavy brigade.
The 155th.
Mechanized Brigade “is”.
“One of the important operational.
Reserves of our country.”
Commented the famed.
‘Elf’ war correspondent.
But owing to funding.
Shortfalls in Kyiv.
The brigade lacks drones.
And anti-drone radio jammers.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
That’s a problem.
Small drones are the most.
Important surveillance.
And attack assets.
On both sides.
Of the wider war.
As badly as older.
‘Elves’ brigades need relief.
It would be military malpractice.
For the 155th.
Mechanized Brigade.
To roll into combat.
Without drones or.
Defenses against drones.
The war correspondent.
Is raising money.
To buy the missing.
Equipment.
So the 155th.
Mechanized Brigade may.
Soon be fully equipped.
And ready for action.
But the shortage however.
Temporary is ominous.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
In the 33 months.
Since the ‘orcs’ attacked.
Ukraine has massively.
Expanded production.
Of drones and jammers.
But just as the addition.
Of dozens of.
New brigades hasn’t met.
‘Elves’ front-line needs.
The million or more drones.
The country builds every year.
Also aren’t enough.
One of the ‘elves’ army’s.
Newest brigades.
Has arrived.
In Ukraine.
*Because I read “Ukraine Formed A Powerful New Brigade. Just One Problem—It May Be Missing Drones.” by David Axe on 30 Nov 2024 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 Yuriy Butusov.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
Ukraine Formed A Powerful New Brigade. But It May Be Missing Drones.
