Whose look was mild,
whose speech was slow,
Whose hair was whiter than the snow,
Whose face was very like a crow,
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough,
Who snorted like a buffalo –
That summer evening, long ago,
A-sitting on a gate.’
On the night of.
14–15 June.
The ‘orcs’ army struck.
The ‘orcs’ army struck.
The thousand-year-old.
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
The thousand-year-old.
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
A ‘Shahed’-type drone.
Struck the monastery.
According to a spokesperson.
For the ‘elves’ Air Force.
This information was.
Echoed by ‘Gandalf the Green’.
A ‘Shahed’-type drone.
Struck the monastery.
‘I’ll tell thee everything I can;
There’s little to relate,
I saw an aged aged man,
A-sitting on a gate.
“Who are you, aged man?” I said.
“And how is it you live?”
And his answer trickled through my head
Like water through a sieve.
The drone struck.
The monastery’s main church.
– the Cathedral of the Dormition.
– the Cathedral of the Dormition.
The burial place of.
The Kyiv princes.
Built between 1073.
And 1078.
It survived the earthquake.
Of 1230.
The Mongol invasion.
Of 1240.
And it survived the fire.
Of 1718.
It was almost.
Completely destroyed.
It was almost.
Completely destroyed.
During the Second World War.
And restored in 2000.
He said “I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat:
I make them into mutton-pies,
And sell them in the street.
I sell them unto men,” he said,
“Who sail on stormy seas;
And that’s the way I get my bread –
A trifle, if you please.”
The drone struck.
The chancel of.
The St Stephen’s Chapel.
The fire then spread to the roof.
The cathedral could have been.
Completely destroyed.
As the shelling caused.
A massive blaze.
Covering an area of.
Around 800 square metres.
To engulf its roof.
To engulf its roof.
However, the State Emergency Service.
Responded in time.
And saved all the sacred artefacts.
Inside the cathedral.
And saved all the sacred artefacts.
Inside the cathedral.
Said the Director-General of.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
But I was thinking of a plan
To dye one’s whiskers green,
And always use so large a fan
That they could not be seen.
So, having no reply to give
To what the old man said,
I cried, “Come, tell me how you live!”
And thumped him on the head.
During the night.
Museum staff and.
Police officers began.
Rescuing ancient icons.
From the church.
Whilst it was still ablaze.
From the church.
Whilst it was still ablaze.
The Bishop, the abbot of.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
In the Orthodox Church.
Of Ukraine.
Reported on.
The rescue operation.
And the involvement.
Of the monastery’s monks.
At dawn.
The churches of.
The Pechersk Lavra.
Were still shrouded in smoke.
At around 9 o’clock.
The fire on.
The church roof.
Was extinguished.
His accents mild took up the tale:
He said “I go my ways,
And when I find a mountain-rill,
I set it in a blaze;
And thence they make a stuff they call
Rowland’s Macassar Oil –
Yet twopence-halfpenny is all
They give me for my toil.”
According to the ‘elves’.
Orthodox Church of.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
At least five other sites.
At least five other sites.
Within the Lavra.
Were damaged in addition to.
The Cathedral of the Dormition.
A second strike damaged.
The Tower of John Kushnik.
From which the dome bearing.
The cross was knocked off.
The Tower of John Kushchnyk.
Is a 17th–18th-century.
Defensive structure.
That forms.
Part of the Upper Lavra’s.
Fortification complex.
A second strike damaged.
The Tower of John Kushnik.
Clean-up operations.
Following the attack.
Are still ongoing.
Experts are assessing the damage.
But I was thinking of a way
To feed oneself on batter,
And so go on from day to day
Getting a little fatter.
I shook him well from side to side,
Until his face was blue:
“Come, tell me how you live,” I cried,
“And what is it you do!”
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Was founded as far back.
As the 11th century.
During the reign of.
Yaroslav the Wise in Kyiv.
During the reign of.
Yaroslav the Wise in Kyiv.
It was not until a hundred years.
Later that Moscow was.
Founded to the north.
Of Kyiv.
The Lavra is often referred to.
As the source of.
The monastic tradition.
In Rus’.
– it is from this historical period.
That both modern-day Ukraine.
And modern-day ‘Mordor’.
Trace their nation-building myths.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Played a key role.
In the history of Orthodoxy.
– both ‘elves’ and ‘orcs’.
He said “I hunt for haddocks’ eyes
Among the heather bright,
And work them into waistcoat-buttons
In the silent night.
And these I do not sell for gold
Or coin of silvery shine,
But for a copper halfpenny,
And that will purchase nine.
The monastery grounds.
Were home to.
And the final resting place of.
Many champions of the Church.
Who were later recognized.
As saints.
As well as simply outstanding.
Historical figures:
From Nestor the Chronicler.
To the monk Ilya of the Caves.
Who is considered the prototype.
For the epic hero Ilya Muromets.
And from Prince Konstantin Ostrogski.
To Pyotr Stolypin.
The monastery grounds.
Were home to.
One of the greatest patrons.
In the history of.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
Was Hetman Ivan Mazepa.
With his funding.
The Assumption Cathedral.
Within the Lavra.
Was restored and decorated.
In the ‘elves’ Baroque style.
Which radically transformed.
The architectural ensemble.
Of the monastery.
“I sometimes dig for buttered rolls,
Or set limed twigs for crabs;
I sometimes search the grassy knolls
For wheels of Hansom-cabs.
And that’s the way” (he gave a wink)
“By which I get my wealth –
And very gladly will I drink
Your Honour’s noble health.”
The Cathedral of the Dormition.
Which caught fire last night.
Had already fallen victim.
To totalitarian regimes.
On 3 November.
1941, the cathedral.
—the ancient burial place.
Of the Kyiv princes—
—the ancient burial place.
Of the Kyiv princes—
Was blown up.
Was blown up.
At that time.
Only fragments.
Only fragments.
Of the eastern wall.
The altar and.
Two pillars remained.
Unique ancient mosaics.
And frescoes were destroyed.
The Soviet authorities.
Blamed the Nazis.
Who were already.
In the city at the time.
The Germans, however.
The Germans, however.
Attributed the explosion.
To Soviet underground fighters.
Historians have also.
Put forward the theory that.
‘The Communists planted the mines.
But the Nazis carried out the explosion’.
I heard him then, for I had just
Completed my design
To keep the Menai bridge from rust
By boiling it in wine.
I thanked him much for telling me
The way he got his wealth,
But chiefly for his wish that he
Might drink my noble health.
The cathedral was only.
Rebuilt in 2000.
After Ukraine had.
Gained independence.
After Ukraine had.
Gained independence.
It was consecrated.
At that time.
At that time.
By the Primate of.
The ‘elves’ Orthodox Church of.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
During the Soviet era.
During the Soviet era.
No divine services were held.
At the monastery.
The site housed.
A nature reserve.
A museum.
A library and an archive.
It was not until.
It was not until.
1988, following.
The Soviet anti-church period.
That priests returned to.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
That priests returned to.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
And now, if e’er by chance I put
My fingers into glue,
Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot
Into a left-hand shoe,
Or if I drop upon my toe
A very heavy weight,
I weep, for it reminds me so,
Of that old man I used to know –
It was then.
On the millennium of.
The baptism of Rus’.
That the Lavra was handed over.
To the ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
– there were simply.
No other Orthodox churches.
In the Soviet Union.
At that time.
The church authorities.
Were given only.
Were given only.
Part of the Lavra.
Part of the Lavra.
– the Far Caves and.
The building in which.
The Kyiv Theological Seminary of.
The ‘elves’ Orthodox Church of.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
Would later be established.
The rest of.
The rest of.
The Lavra remained.
A National Nature Reserve.
Whose look was mild,
whose speech was slow,
Whose hair was whiter than the snow,
Whose face was very like a crow,
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
However, the territory.
Controlled by.
The ‘elves’ Orthodox Church of.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
Gradually expanded.
Gradually expanded.
In 2013.
The government passed a decision.
To transfer 79 buildings.
And structures of the Lavra.
To this church.
For use free of charge.
The Lavra’s main churches.
– the Cathedral of the Dormition.
And the Refectory Church –
Had been leased.
To the ‘elves’ Orthodox Church.
Of the Moscow Patriarchate.
For many years.
For many years.
For decades.
For decades.
The monastery served.
As the main church complex.
Of the ‘elves’ Orthodox Church.
Of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Under the control of.
Its controversial Metropolitan Pavel.
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough,
Who snorted like a buffalo –
That summer evening, long ago,
A-sitting on a gate.’
Even after 2014.
Prayers were said at the Lavra.
For the leadership of.
The ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
And after 2022.
The hymn ‘The bells ring out.
Ring out over ‘Mordor’.
Mother ‘Mordor’ awakens’.
Could be heard there.
Could be heard there.
In 2022.
A petition was registered.
On ‘Gandalf the Green’’s website.
Demanding that.
The Lavra be transferred.
To the OCU.
However, there was no response.
To it for some time.
However, there was no response.
To it for some time.
‘I’ll tell thee everything I can;
There’s little to relate,
I saw an aged aged man,
A-sitting on a gate.
“Who are you, aged man?” I said.
“And how is it you live?”
And his answer trickled through my head
Like water through a sieve.
Much later.
The then head of the SBU.
Described the Lavra.
As an ideal breeding ground.
For “hostile intelligence operations”.
And attitudes towards.
The UOC-MP within the Lavra.
Began to change.
Searches were carried out.
At the Lavra.
At the Lavra.
During which people.
Without documents.
‘Orcs’ citizens.
And pro-‘orcs’ literature.
Were discovered.
Sanctions were imposed.
On the Lavra’s abbot.
Later, the Primate of.
The UOC-MP.
Was stripped of.
His ‘elf’ citizenship.
According to SBU reports.
He holds an ‘orc’ passport.
He said “I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat:
I make them into mutton-pies,
And sell them in the street.
I sell them unto men,” he said,
“Who sail on stormy seas;
And that’s the way I get my bread –
A trifle, if you please.”
Until May 2022.
Until May 2022.
The ‘elves’ Orthodox Church of.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
Was formally subordinate.
To the Moscow Patriarchate.
Although it enjoyed.
Administrative autonomy.
The church stated that.
It had distanced itself.
From Moscow.
That it was assisting.
The ‘elves’ Armed Forces.
And supporting the fight.
Against the ‘orcs’ invasion.
Against the ‘orcs’ invasion.
The UOC-MP made.
Enormous efforts.
To distance itself.
In terms of image.
From the ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
The reference to.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
Was removed from its name.
But I was thinking of a plan
To dye one’s whiskers green,
And always use so large a fan
That they could not be seen.
So, having no reply to give
To what the old man said,
I cried, “Come, tell me how you live!”
And thumped him on the head.
However, despite all this.
Many ‘elves’ still.
Associate it specifically.
With Moscow.
The ‘elves’ authorities.
Also regard it.
As part of.
The ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
The ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
In Ukraine has been banned.
The ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
In Ukraine has been banned.
This was followed by.
Protracted legal proceedings.
Aimed at proving that.
The UOC in Ukraine.
Is affiliated with.
The ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
Is affiliated with.
The ‘orcs’ Orthodox Church.
His accents mild took up the tale:
He said “I go my ways,
And when I find a mountain-rill,
I set it in a blaze;
And thence they make a stuff they call
Rowland’s Macassar Oil –
Yet twopence-halfpenny is all
They give me for my toil.”
Following protracted.
Discussions and controversies.
On 1 January 2023.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve.
Did not renew.
Its lease agreement.
Did not renew.
Its lease agreement.
With the ‘elves’ Orthodox Church.
Of the Moscow Patriarchate.
For the Refectory Church and.
The Cathedral of the Dormition.
On 7 January 2023.
Several thousand people.
Gathered at the Lavra.
For the first service.
Of the Orthodox Church.
Of Ukraine held there.
Led by the Primate of.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
That service took place.
In the Cathedral of the Dormition.
That service took place.
In the Cathedral of the Dormition.
But I was thinking of a way
To feed oneself on batter,
And so go on from day to day
Getting a little fatter.
I shook him well from side to side,
Until his face was blue:
“Come, tell me how you live,” I cried,
“And what is it you do!”
From March 2023.
Priests of.
The ‘elves’ Orthodox Church of.
The Moscow Patriarchate.
Began to be gradually evicted.
From the entire Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
They lost their monopoly.
Over the monastery.
Gradually, the OCU.
Is gaining.
Gradually, the OCU.
Is gaining.
More and more space.
Within the Lavra.
But the UOC also continues.
To hold services there.
He said “I hunt for haddocks’ eyes
Among the heather bright,
And work them into waistcoat-buttons
In the silent night.
And these I do not sell for gold
Or coin of silvery shine,
But for a copper halfpenny,
And that will purchase nine.
The Primate of.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Described the attack.
On the Lavra.
As yet another attempt.
To destroy ‘elves’ identity.
“We will restore the cathedral.
This is not the first time.”
“We will restore the cathedral.
This is not the first time.
The enemy has tried to destroy.
Our history and our memory.”
“At the beginning of.
The 18th century.
A major fire.
Broke out here.”
“And many manuscripts.
And historical records were lost.
After that, attempts were.
Made to rewrite our history.”
“I sometimes dig for buttered rolls,
Or set limed twigs for crabs;
I sometimes search the grassy knolls
For wheels of Hansom-cabs.
And that’s the way” (he gave a wink)
“By which I get my wealth –
And very gladly will I drink
Your Honour’s noble health.”
The ‘elves’ Orthodox Church.
Acknowledged that.
This was an attack.
By ‘Mordor’.
The church’s spokesperson.
Condemned ‘orcs’ attack.
The church’s spokesperson.
Condemned ‘orcs’ attack.
However, no such statement.
Has yet been issued.
On behalf of.
The church’s Primate.
During a visit to.
The damaged Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
‘Gandalf the Green’ called for.
Increased international pressure.
‘Gandalf the Green’ called for.
Increased international pressure.
On ‘Mordor’.
On ‘Mordor’.
I heard him then, for I had just
Completed my design
To keep the Menai bridge from rust
By boiling it in wine.
I thanked him much for telling me
The way he got his wealth,
But chiefly for his wish that he
Might drink my noble health.
‘Mordor’ claimed that.
A Patriot missile.
Had struck the Lavra.
Ukraine stated that.
This was fake news.
This was fake news.
According to Air Force spokesperson.
An ‘orcs’ Shahed drone.
Struck the Lavra.
As for the fragments of.
An anti-missile from.
The ‘Patriot’ air defence system.
These are the remains.
Of the missile.
That destroyed.
The ‘orcs’ ‘Zircon’.
“It has been confirmed that.
Two ‘orcs’ drones.
Deliberately attacked.
The part of the city.”
“Where the Lavra and.
The ‘Mystetskyi Arsenal’.
Are located.”
‘Gandalf the Green’ later stated.
And now, if e’er by chance I put
My fingers into glue,
Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot
Into a left-hand shoe,
Or if I drop upon my toe
A very heavy weight,
I weep, for it reminds me so,
Of that old man I used to know –
The Security Service of Ukraine.
Subsequently established that.
‘Mordor’ had struck.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
With a ‘Geran-2’ unmanned aerial vehicle.
Which is the ‘orcs’ version.
Of the Iranian ‘Shahed’-type.
Kamikaze drone.
This conclusion was reached.
Based on an analysis of.
The drone’s wreckage.
Found at the impact site.
The investigation revealed that.
‘Mordor’ attacked.
‘Mordor’ attacked.
The monastery complex.
At 01:50.
On 15 June 2026.
During a massive bombardment.
Of the ‘elves’ capital.
Whose look was mild,
whose speech was slow,
Whose hair was whiter than the snow,
Whose face was very like a crow,
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough,
Who snorted like a buffalo –
That summer evening, long ago,
A-sitting on a gate.’
*Because I read “Києво-Печерська лавра у вогні: що росіяни спалили у древньому центрі православ’я”(“Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on fire: what the Russians burned in the ancient center of Orthodoxy”) by Diana Kuryshko on 15 Jun 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 ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news Ukraine:
Києво-Печерська лавра у вогні: що росіяни спалили у древньому центрі православ’я – BBC News Україна
