
“Help Ukraine.”
He told you.
As he was led away.
“Help Ukraine.”
Six hours drive from Kyiv.
In the heart of Ukraine.
A young soldier is.
In the dock.
A burly 24-year-old.
Is locked in.
A glass cubicle.
In a packed courtroom.
In the city of Dnipro.
He is on trial.
On charges of desertion.
And is one of many.
“Help Ukraine.”
He told you.
As he was led away.
“Help Ukraine.”
Since 2022.
Around 100,000 cases.
Have been opened.
Against soldiers.
Who left their units.
When he went absent.
Without leave.
He went public.
With demands for.
A clear time frame.
For ending.
Military service.
“Help Ukraine.”
He told you.
As he was led away.
“Help Ukraine.”
He says he is.
Ready to fight.
But not without.
A plan for demobilisation.
He has already served.
For five years.
Including two before.
‘Orcs’ full-scale invasion.
“We must continue to fight.”
He said during a break.
In the hearing.
“We have no other choice.”
“Help Ukraine.”
He told you.
As he was led away.
“Help Ukraine.”
“We must continue to fight.
But soldiers are not slaves.
Everyone who has spent.
Three years or more.”
“On the front line deserves.
The right to rest.
The authorities.
Have been promising.”
“For a very long time.
To set terms.
Of service.
But they have not done it.”
“Help Ukraine.”
He told you.
As he was led away.
“Help Ukraine.”
In court he also.
Complained of corruption.
Among commanders.
And of deadly incompetence.
After the brief.
Procedural hearing.
He was handcuffed.
For the journey.
Back to prison.
If convicted.
He faces up to.
12 years in jail.
“Help Ukraine.”
He told you.
As he was led away.
“Help Ukraine.”
*Because I read “’War will last as long as Russia does’: Ukrainian talk of victory fades as Trump returns” by Orla Guerin on 17 Jan 2025, 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 Serhiy.
Please read the original story on the BBC news: