Howl, howl, howl, howl!
O, you are men of stones:
Had I your tongues and eyes,
I’ld use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack.
She’s gone for ever!
Howl, howl, howl, howl!
O, you are men of stones:
I know when one is dead,
and when one lives;
She’s dead as earth.
She’s dead as earth.
Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist
or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.
This week.
With air raid warnings.
Wailing in the distance.
Kyiv held a funeral.
For two sisters.
For two sisters.
A 12-year-old and.
Her 17-year-old sister.
We are not the first
We are not the first
Who, with best meaning,
have incurr’d the worst.
For thee, oppressed king,
am I cast down;
Myself could else out-frown
false fortune’s frown.
They were among.
24 civilians.
Killed by an ‘orcs’ missile.
Which reduced.
Their residential block.
Their residential block.
To rubble.
Earlier this month.
This feather stirs;
she lives!
If it be so,
It is a chance
which does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
This feather stirs;
she lives!
They had already.
Lost their father.
Who had been fighting.
On the front line.
Their grieving mother.
Is now the family’s.
Sole survivor.
Sole survivor.
O gods!
Who is’t can say
‘I am at the worst’?
I am worse than e’er I was.
This is the human cost.
This is the human cost.
Of the largest sustained.
‘Orcs’ aerial assault so far.
– with 1,500 drones.
And 56 missiles.
Fired at Ukraine.
Within 48 hours.
And ‘vorse I may be yet:
the worst is not
So long as we can say
‘This is the worst.’
But the loss of life.
Could have been.
Even higher.
Even higher.
‘Elves’ air defences.
Prevented more casualties.
Prevented more casualties.
According to ‘Gandalf the Green’.
94% of those.
Long range drones and.
73% of the missiles.
Were successfully intercepted.
What shall Cordelia do?
Love, and be silent.
What shall Cordelia do?
Love, and be silent.
In comparison.
On 14 May 2025.
‘Elves’ forces took down.
55% of ‘orcs’ drones.
Launched nationwide.
Ukraine is getting better.
Ukraine is getting better.
At defending its skies.
Then poor Cordelia!
And yet no so; since,
I am sure, my love’s
more richer than my tongue.
“We are now.
Unfortunately.
The best in the world.”
Says Lt Col.
An inspector general.
At ‘elves’ Ministry of Defence.
He admits, though.
He admits, though.
That shooting down.
‘Orcs’ ballistic missiles.
“Is not so easy”.
“Is not so easy”.
Nothing, my lord.
Nothing.
Nothing, my lord.
Nothing.
More than four years.
On from ‘Mordor’’s.
Full scale invasion.
Ukraine has built.
An increasingly sophisticated.
Layered air defence system.
An increasingly sophisticated.
Layered air defence system.
‘Nothing!’
Alice said impatiently.
‘I’ve been knocking at it!’
‘I’ve been knocking at it!’
‘Shouldn’t do that
– shouldn’t do that –’
the Frog muttered.
‘Wexes it, you know.’
At the start of the war.
At the start of the war.
It relied on.
Old Soviet-era weapons.
The West then helped.
Bolster its defences.
– with expensive.
More sophisticated systems.
Including Patriot.
Air defence missiles.
Including Patriot.
Air defence missiles.
Then he went up
and gave the door
a kick with
one of his great feet.
‘You let it alone,’
he panted out,
as he hobbled back to his tree,
‘and it’ll let you alone, you know.’
But Ukraine has also been.
Developing its own.
Home-grown solutions.
Home-grown solutions.
– from mobile fire teams.
Operating heavy machine guns.
On trucks to cheap.
Mass-produced interceptors.
‘I don’t think it
ever happened before,
that anyone had to take care of
two Queens asleep at once!
No, not in all the History of England
– it couldn’t, you know,
because there never was
more than one Queen at a time.
Embracing innovation.
And technology is.
Giving Ukraine.
An advantage.
At the heart of.
‘Elves’ air defences is.
At the heart of.
‘Elves’ air defences is.
The software that tracks.
Every glide bomb.
Missile and drone.
Launched by ‘Mordor’.
Do wake up,
you heavy things!’
she went on
in an impatient tone;
but there was no answer
but a gentle snoring.
The snoring got more distinct
every minute,
Sky Map uses radars.
Thousands of sensors.
And video feeds.
And artificial intelligence.
To detect threats.
And guide its air defences.
To detect threats.
And guide its air defences.
and sounded more like a tune:
at last she could
even make out words,
and she listened so eagerly that,
when the two great heads
suddenly vanished
from her lap,
she hardly missed them.
To start with.
Ukraine relied on.
A network of.
Mobile phones.
Fitted on to.
Telegraph poles.
To listen out.
To listen out.
For the sound of.
Approaching drones.
Now the system uses.
More sophisticated sensors.
The US is using.
Sky Map to protects.
One of its bases.
In the Middle East.
She was standing
Before an arched doorway
over which were the words
QUEEN ALICE in large letters,
and on each side of the arch
there was a bell-handle;
one was marked ‘Visitors’ Bell,’
and the other ‘Servants’ Bell.’
And there’s one weapon.
More than any other.
And there’s one weapon.
More than any other.
That’s helping take down.
‘Orcs’ drones:
Cheap interceptor drones.
Cheap interceptor drones.
They’re shaped like.
A large bullet and.
Propelled by four rotors.
At the base.
‘I’ll wait till
the song’s over,’
thought Alice,
‘and then I’ll ring
– the – which bell must I ring?’
she went on,
very much puzzled
by the names.
Ukraine is now producing.
More than 1,000 of.
These kinds of drones.
A day.
In March this year.
They destroyed more than.
30,000 ‘orcs’ drones.
According to ‘elves’ air force.
‘I’m not a visitor,
and I’m not a servant.
There ought to be one
marked “Queen,” you know –’
Just then the door
opened a little way,
and a creature
with a long beak
In a field outside.
The city of Kherson.
‘Elves’ Marine Corps.
Unmanned Systems Regiment.
Shows one in action.
Shows one in action.
From a static launch.
Their P1-SUN interceptor.
Can reach speeds of.
More than 300km/h.
With a range of.
More than 30km.
The unit had just.
Completed a mission.
Completed a mission.
To take out ‘orcs’ drones.
put its head out
for a moment
and said
‘No admittance till
‘No admittance till
the week after next!’
and shut the door again
with a bang.
The commander calls it.
A “very serious weapon”.
“It shows how quickly.
We can adapt.”
“It shows how quickly.
We can adapt.
How we can hold the line.
And how much we can develop.”
Alice knocked and rang
in vain for a long time,
but at last
a very old Frog,
who was sitting
under a tree,
got up and hobbled
slowly towards her:
The P1-SUN is.
3D-printed and.
Costs around.
$1,000.
– much less than the large.
$50,000 delta-winged Shahed.
One way attack drones.
That it is designed to destroy.
he was dressed
in bright yellow,
and had enormous
boots on.
‘What is it, now?’
‘What is it, now?’
the Frog said
in a deep hoarse whisper.
Private companies.
Are plugging into.
The system too.
“We need to cover.”
“We need to cover.
All of Ukraine.
And see all the targets.”
And see all the targets.”
“So accordingly.
We use all the resources.
We have,” explains a man.
Who oversees the initiative.
Alice turned round,
ready to find fault
with anybody.
‘Where’s the servant
whose business it is
to answer the door?’
she began angrily.
‘Which door?’ said the Frog.
Twenty-five companies.
Have already signed up.
To the scheme.
There is an obvious incentive.
– to protect their factories.
And infrastructure.
– to protect their factories.
And infrastructure.
‘Orcs’ attacks on.
‘Elves’ energy grid.
During the winter left.
Millions without power.
Alice almost stamped with
Irritation at the slow drawl
in which he spoke.
‘This door, of course!’
The Frog looked at the door
with his large dull eyes
for a minute:
then he went nearer and
Carmine Sky is.
One of the private companies.
Now offering air defences for.
Other private sector clients.
They’ve already built.
A network of towers.
Fitted with remotely.
Controlled machine guns.
In the Kharkiv region.
– close to ‘orcs’ border.
In the Kharkiv region.
– close to ‘orcs’ border.
rubbed it with his thumb,
as if he were trying
whether the paint would come off;
then he looked at Alice.
‘To answer the door?’ he said.
‘What’s it been asking of?’
He was so hoarse that
Alice could scarcely hear him.
You visit their control room.
In the basement.
Of a building.
Of a building.
Rows of screens display.
‘Elves’ Sky Map.
As it tracks ‘orcs’.
Drones and jets.
Behind the screens.
Are ordinary civilians.
– mothers, taxi drivers.
And veterans.
Each has been vetted.
And trained for a few weeks.
Before being allowed.
To operate.
One of the remotely.
Controlled guns.
One of the remotely.
Controlled guns.
‘I don’t know
what you mean,’ she said.
‘I don’t know
what you mean,’ she said.
‘I speaks English, doesn’t I?’
the Frog went on.
‘Or are you deaf?
What did it ask you?’
The company’s spokesman.
Tells you their job.
“Is not difficult”.
“Is not difficult”.
Operating the remote.
machine guns to.
shoot down drones.
“Is like a computer game.”
“- just like an Xbox.
Or PlayStation”.
He describes their role.
As a “supplement to.”
As a “supplement to.
The state’s air defence structure”.
“We’re integrated.
Into the military system.”
“This is not the Wild West.
So we follow.
The instructions and.
Commands of the military.”
‘Nothing!’
Alice said impatiently.
‘I’ve been knocking at it!’
‘I’ve been knocking at it!’
‘Shouldn’t do that
– shouldn’t do that –’
the Frog muttered.
‘Wexes it, you know.’
He says there are other.
Advantages to getting.
The private sector involved.
– “we can scale.”
– “we can scale.
Much faster than.
The public sector”.
It’s early days.
It’s early days.
But these private companies.
Have already shot down.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ drones.
Then he went up
and gave the door
a kick with
one of his great feet.
‘You let it alone,’
he panted out,
as he hobbled back to his tree,
‘and it’ll let you alone, you know.’
Ukraine has also been.
Stepping up its own.
Attacks on ‘Mordor.
Attacks on ‘Mordor.
Recent strikes have caused.
Massive fires at.
‘Orcs’ oil refineries.
Across the country.
And have reached.
Major cities.
Like St Petersburg.
And Moscow.
Causing the Kremlin.
To reduce the scale of.
Its World War Two Victory Day.
Parade in May.
For fear of.
An ‘elves’ attack.
For fear of.
An ‘elves’ attack.
What shall Cordelia do?
Love, and be silent.
What shall Cordelia do?
Love, and be silent.
As a result.
Both sides are now.
In a battle to innovate.
As quickly as possible.
To gain an advantage.
In this war.
‘Mordor’ has been developing.
Faster jet-powered drones.
It is now flying.
Decoy drones to.
Identify the locations.
Of ‘elves’ air defences.
Then poor Cordelia!
And yet no so; since,
I am sure, my love’s
more richer than my tongue.
There are still.
Glaring gaps in.
Glaring gaps in.
‘Elves’ air defences.
At one end.
There is a lack of.
Highly sophisticated.
Expensive missile interceptors.
Nothing, my lord.
Nothing.
Nothing, my lord.
Nothing.
Ukraine still needs.
US-made Patriot missiles.
So far they’re the only.
Effective weapon.
So far they’re the only.
Effective weapon.
To take down ‘orcs’.
Ballistic missiles.
O gods!
Who is’t can say
‘I am at the worst’?
I am worse than e’er I was.
With the US war.
In Iran.
They’re in short supply.
Closer to the front line.
Ukraine, like ‘Mordor’.
Has struggled to deal with.
The threat of the prolific.
Small first-person-view drones.
Which operators guide.
Remotely to their target.
They’re still the cause.
Of most casualties.
And ‘vorse I may be yet:
the worst is not
So long as we can say
‘This is the worst.’
Despite the technical advances.
In this war.
– nets above roads.
– nets above roads.
Rifles and shotguns.
Rifles and shotguns.
Are still the last line.
Of defence.
This feather stirs;
she lives!
If it be so,
It is a chance
which does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
This feather stirs;
she lives!
Defending ‘elves’ skies.
Will never be easy.
‘Gandalf the Green’.
Has warned that.
‘Orcs’ mass attacks.
Are designed to overwhelm.
Its air defences.
Its air defences.
We are not the first
We are not the first
Who, with best meaning,
have incurr’d the worst.
For thee, oppressed king,
am I cast down;
Myself could else out-frown
false fortune’s frown.
By launching hundreds.
Of drones and.
Dozens of missiles.
It is inevitable that.
Some will get through.
– meaning there will be.
More tragic deaths.
Like the sisters.
Howl, howl, howl, howl!
O, you are men of stones:
Had I your tongues and eyes,
I’ld use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack.
She’s gone for ever!
Howl, howl, howl, howl!
O, you are men of stones:
I know when one is dead,
and when one lives;
She’s dead as earth.
She’s dead as earth.
Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist
or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.
*Because I read “From AI to interceptors, Ukraine is trying to drone-proof its skies” by Jonathan Beale on 21 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, including a story of Liubava and Vira, a story of Myronenko, a story of Welkos, and a story of Ruslan, led by ‘KING LEAR’ written by William Shakespeare and ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
From AI to shotguns and cheap interceptors, Ukraine is trying to drone-proof its skies
