It’s not for no reason.
That ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Had the confidence.
To stand up.
To the U.S. President.
And the Vice President.
During their disastrous Oval Office.
Press conference on Friday.
During which both falsely.
Accused the wartime leader.
Of being ungrateful.
For past U.S. aid.
Despite the U.S. President’s insistence.
That ‘Gandalf the Green’ and Ukraine.
“Are not in a very good position.”
‘Elves’ forces are counterattacking.
Along at least two.
Of the most important sectors.
Of the 800-mile front-line.
Of ‘orcs’ wider war on Ukraine.
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
As recently as a few months ago.
The ‘orcs’ had the momentum.
In their three-year wider war.
That’s no longer the case.
Especially in and around.
The city of Toretsk.
In eastern ‘elves’.
Donetsk Oblast.
The site of bitter urban fighting.
For much of last year.
Including the deliberate demolition.
Of towering highrises.
By both sides, Toretsk.
—or what was left of it—
Fell to ‘orcs’ forces.
In early February.
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
A mining city.
With a pre-war population.
Of 35,000.
Toretsk is important.
It straddles high ground.
Overlooking important supply lines.
Threading along the ‘elves’ side.
Of the front line.
Which is why.
‘Mordor’ celebrated.
The city’s fall.
On 7 February.
But ‘orcs’ control.
Of the city.
Didn’t last long.
Didn’t last long.
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
One ‘orc’ military blogger.
Inadvertently revealed.
The extent of the ‘elves’ advance.
During a botched effort.
To downplay the advance.
On Monday.
“The crests decided.
To counterattack.”
“Flew in on 23 February.
In their American armored vehicles.
To the border areas.
Of the city of Toretsk.”
The blogger wrote.
Using a slang term.
For ‘elves’ troops.
“The enemy was eliminated!”
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
In fact, the video.
The blogger posted alongside.
His missive revealed.
‘Elves’ troops in central Toretsk.
—and not just.
In the “border area.”
As the ‘orc’ claimed.
A week later.
Western Toretsk was.
Again contested.
And it was possible.
A few ‘orcs’ troops.
Were clinging to.
An exposed salient.
Jutting into.
The urban no-man’s-land.
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
“Fighting continues.
In the city center.
And the enemy is losing.
Control,” one analyst noted.
“There are reports.
Of complete encirclement.
Of ‘orcs’ occupiers.
In several areas.”
In pushing back the ‘orcs’.
The ‘elves’ brigades around Toretsk.
—including the 92nd Assault Brigade.
And the 100th Mechanized Brigade—
Join sister units that.
Recently successfully counterattacked.
On the eastern edge.
Of the 250-square-mile salient.
‘Elves’ forces occupy.
In western ‘Mordor’’s.
Kursk Oblast.
Kursk Oblast.
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
What’s especially ominous.
For the ‘orcs’ field armies.
In Ukraine is that.
They’ve been reprioritizing.
The Toretsk axis.
After getting repulsed.
Outside the fortress city.
Of Pokrovsk.
25 miles southwest.
Of Toretsk.
“The ‘orcs’ command.
In the theater of war.”
Is focusing its main attention.
Not on Pokrovsk.
But on the adjacent Novopavlivka.
And Toretsk directions,” was explained.
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
But the reinforcements.
Haven’t helped in Toretsk.
At least not yet.
Even bolstered by troops.
Transferred from the Pokrovsk axis.
The ‘orcs’ regiments.
In and around Toretsk.
Are falling back.
In so doing.
They make a mockery.
Of the U.S. President’s claim.
In his combative White House meeting.
With ‘Gandalf the Green’.
That the ‘elves’ president is.
In a weak position.
“You have to be thankful.”
The U.S. President raged.
“You don’t have the cards.
You’re buried there.
You people are dying.”
“You’re running low.
On soldiers.
Listen, you’re running low.
On soldiers.”
Two weeks after.
The ‘orcs’ fully occupied.
The ruins of Toretsk.
The ‘elves’ counterattacked.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
—and swiftly advanced.
Back into the city.
It’s true that Ukraine.
Has struggled to mobilize.
Enough infantry to keep.
Its best brigades fully manned.
But it’s not true that.
‘Elves’ forces are getting “buried.”
In fact, in recent weeks.
They’ve advanced.
In at least as many sectors.
As they’ve retreated.
In fact, in recent weeks.
They’ve advanced.
*Because I read “Defying Trump, Ukrainian Troops Advance In The East” by David Axe on 1 Mar 2025 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 report of WarTranslated, and reports of the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
Ukrainians March Into Toretsk: The 2nd Ukrainian Advance In 3 Weeks
