“For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light:
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright.”
‘The One’ has promised.
Retaliation after.
Accusing Ukraine of.
Carrying out.
A deadly attack.
On a student dormitory.
In an occupied part.
Of eastern Ukraine.
“‘But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
And never be met with again!’
Eighteen people were killed.
And 42 others injured.
In the overnight strike.
In the town of Starobilsk.
In the overnight strike.
In the town of Starobilsk.
In the Luhansk region.
‘Orcs’ emergencies ministry said.
Another three people.
Are believed to be.
Are believed to be.
Trapped under the rubble.
“It is this, it is this that oppresses my soul,
When I think of my uncle’s last words:
And my heart is like nothing so much as a bowl
Brimming over with quivering curds!
‘Elves’ military said.
It had hit.
The headquarters of.
‘Orcs’ elite Rubicon.
The headquarters of.
‘Orcs’ elite Rubicon.
Drone military unit.
In Starobilsk.
It did not say.
Whether it was.
The same building as the one.
Identified by ‘Mordor’.
“It is this, it is this—“ “We have had that before!”
The Bellman indignantly said.
And the Baker replied “Let me say it once more.
It is this, it is this that I dread!
But ‘the One’ said.
There were “no military facilities.
Intelligence service facilities.
Or related services in the vicinity”.
“Therefore, there is.
Absolutely no basis for.
Claiming that the munitions.
Struck the building.”
“Struck the building.
As a result of.
Our air defence or.
Electronic warfare systems.”
He said at a reception.
In his Kremlin residence.
In Moscow.
On Friday.
“I engage with the Snark—every night after dark—
In a dreamy delirious fight:
I serve it with greens in those shadowy scenes,
And I use it for striking a light:
He ordered.
The ‘orcs’ military.
To prepare “proposals”.
On how to retaliate.
‘The One’said.
The ‘elves’ strike had been.
Carried out in three waves.
Using 16 drones.
“But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day,
In a moment (of this I am sure),
I shall softly and suddenly vanish away—
And the notion I cannot endure!”
‘Mordor’’ state-run TV.
Showed what it said was.
One of the injured students.
Aged 19.
She had head injuries.
After being hit by.
A collapsing concrete slab.
The report said.
No photos or videos.
Of those who.
Moscow says were killed.
Were shown.
The Bellman looked uffish, and wrinkled his brow.
“If only you’d spoken before!
It’s excessively awkward to mention it now,
With the Snark, so to speak, at the door!
Early on Saturday.
‘Orcs’ officials reported.
Two people had been.
Injured after falling debris.
From drones triggered.
A fire at an oil depot.
In ‘orcs’ Black Sea port.
Of Novorossiysk.
The general headquarters of.
The southern Krasnodar region said.
“Several technical administrative.
Buildings caught fire”.
And fragments of.
Drones fell on.
A fuel terminal.
A fuel terminal.
“We should all of us grieve, as you well may believe,
If you never were met with again—
But surely, my man, when the voyage began,
You might have suggested it then?
Two people were injured.
And were being treated.
In hospital.
No deaths were reported.
The general headquarters said.
Drones had also damaged.
Private homes in the port city.
Of Anapa further north.
“It’s excessively awkward to mention it now—
As I think I’ve already remarked.”
And the man they called “Hi!” replied, with a sigh,
“I informed you the day we embarked.
‘Elves’ military said.
Late on Friday that.
An overnight strike.
Had targeted.
Rubicon’s headquarters.
In Starobilsk.
Rubicon’s headquarters.
In Starobilsk.
It accused.
Fighters from.
The special drone unit.
Of regularly striking.
Of regularly striking.
Civilians and.
Civilian infrastructure.
In Ukraine.
“You may charge me with murder—or want of sense—
(We are all of us weak at times):
But the slightest approach to a false pretence
Was never among my crimes!
The statement also said that.
‘Elves’ forces were.
“Causing damage to.
Military infrastructure.”
“Causing damage to.
Military infrastructure.
And facilities.
Used for military purposes.”
“Strictly adhering to.
The norms of.
International humanitarian law.
Laws and customs of war”.
“I said it in Hebrew—I said it in Dutch—
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!”
On Thursday.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
The headquarters of.
‘Orcs’ security service.
FSB had been hit.
In the Moscow-seized area.
Of ‘elves’ southern.
Kherson region.
About 100 ‘orcs’.
“Occupiers” were either.
Killed or injured.
He added.
“’Tis a pitiful tale,” said the Bellman, whose face
Had grown longer at every word:
“But, now that you’ve stated the whole of your case,
More debate would be simply absurd.
Moscow’s military has not.
Commented on the issue.
But one pro-Kremlin channel.
Reported “casualties”.
After what it described.
As a “massive drone strike”.
After what it described.
As a “massive drone strike”.
“The rest of my speech” (he explained to his men)
“You shall hear when I’ve leisure to speak it.
But the Snark is at hand, let me tell you again!
‘Tis your glorious duty to seek it!
Ukraine has repeatedly.
Accused ‘orcs’ military of.
Deliberately targeting civilians.
Deliberately targeting civilians.
Since the start of ‘orcs’.
Full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
– a charge Moscow regularly denies.
“To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care;
To pursue it with forks and hope;
To threaten its life with a railway-share;
To charm it with smiles and soap!
Last week.
‘Elves’ officials said.
24 people were killed.
– including three girls –
When an ‘orcs’ missile.
Destroyed a block of.
A high-rising residential building.
In the capital Kyiv.
“For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light:
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright.”
*Because I read “Putin vows retaliation after accusing Ukraine of hitting student dormitory” by Jaroslav Lukiv on 23 May 2026, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, led by “some lines” quoted in the last part of ‘CHAPTER XVIII YUGOSLAVIA AND GREECE’ of ‘BOOK II ALONE May 10, 1940–June 22, 1941’ in ‘The Second World War: The Classic One-Volume Abridgment’ written by Winston S. Churchill, and ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Russia’s Putin vows retaliation after accusing Ukraine of hitting student dormitory
