Take vantage,
heavy eyes,
not to behold
This shameful lodging.
Fortune, good night:
smile once more;
turn thy wheel!
turn thy wheel!
The Brigadier General.
The commander of.
The Third Army Corps of.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Has reported.
On the results of.
The final phase of.
The counter-offensive operation.
Codenamed ‘Vivaldi’.
It has been underway.
Since the end of May.
In the Lyman sector.
Now, good sir,
what are you?
A most poor man,
made tame to fortune’s blows;
Who, by the art of
known and feeling sorrows,
Am pregnant
to good pity.
In a video address.
By the commander.
Published on 14 October.
It was reported that.
During the fourth phase.
Of the operation.
‘Elves’ troops were able to.
‘Elves’ troops were able to.
Liberate a further.
101 square kilometres.
Of territory.
The villages of Zelena Dolyna.
Lypove and Kolodyazi.
Have been returned.
To the control.
Of the ‘elves’ Armed Forces.
‘So you will,
when you’ve crossed
the next brook,’
said the White Knight.
‘I’ll see you safe
to the end of the wood
– and then I must go back, you know.
That’s the end of my move.’
According to the commander.
During this phase.
The ‘orcs’ suffered.
The ‘orcs’ suffered.
Around 3,000 soldiers.
Killed or wounded.
Around 3,000 soldiers.
Killed or wounded.
and had just time to see
the Lion and the Unicorn
rise to their feet,
with angry looks
at being interrupted
in their feast,
before she dropped
to her knees,
In total.
During Operation ‘Vivaldi’.
This figure stands.
At around 8,000.
The area of territory that.
Ukraine has regained.
Control of amounts to.
277 square kilometres.
And 16 settlements.
Have been liberated.
And cleared of.
Enemy forces.
These are all figures.
Provided by the ‘elves’ side,
On which the ‘orcs’ authorities.
Have made no comment.
and put her hands
over her ears,
vainly trying to shut out
the dreadful uproar.
‘If that doesn’t
“drum them out of town,” ’
she thought to herself,
‘nothing ever will!’
However.
‘Orcs’ military correspondents.
Acknowledge the advances.
Made by the ‘elves’ Armed Forces.
And suggest that.
The ‘orcs’ command is.
The ‘orcs’ command is.
Concealing this information.
After a while
the noise seemed gradually
to die away,
till all was dead silence,
and Alice lifted up
her head in some alarm.
There was no one to be seen,
and her first thought was that
The Brigadier General states that.
The operation has achieved.
Its strategic objectives.
Its strategic objectives.
“We prevented the enemy.
From outflanking.
The Sloviansk-Kramatorsk conurbation.
And encircling it.”
“And we also defended.
The Kharkiv–Sloviansk road.
The enemy was unable.”
The enemy was unable.”
“To cut off our group’s.
Key logistical artery.
In the Donbas.
We thwarted the offensive.”
“By the ‘West’ group.
And forced it.
To redeploy part of.
The 1st Tank Army’s units.”
“Which eased the pressure.
On Kupiansk-Vuzlovy.”
“Which eased the pressure.
On Kupiansk-Vuzlovy.”
she must have been dreaming
about the Lion and the Unicorn
and those queer
Anglo-Saxon Messengers.
However, there was the great dish
still lying at her feet,
on which she had tried to cut
the plum-cake,
At the same time.
The commander of.
The 3rd Army Corps.
Hinted at a continuation.
Of the Defence Forces’.
Offensive operations.
At the end of.
The video address.
When asked.
“Will there be a continuation?”.
He replied as follows:
He replied as follows:
“Well, at the very least.
“Well, at the very least.
Wagner and Bach.
Are still here.”
‘So I wasn’t dreaming, after all,’
she said to herself,
‘unless – unless we’re all part of
the same dream.
Only I do hope it’s my dream,
and not the Red King’s!
I don’t like belonging to
another person’s dream,’
What was the purpose?
Of ‘Vivaldi’?
Can it be considered?
A success?
The counter-offensive operation.
Which had been taking place.
Amid a media blackout.
Amid a media blackout.
Since late spring and.
Throughout the summer.
In the Lyman sector.
Has come to an end.
At least.
That is what the Brigadier General.
Who commanded it.
Has reported.
she went on
in a rather complaining tone:
‘I’ve a great mind to go and
wake him, and see what happens!’
At this moment
her thoughts were interrupted
by a loud shouting of
‘Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!
According to him.
The operation’s success was.
Ensured by the surprise and.
Ensured by the surprise and.
Well-planned nature of.
The ‘elves’ Armed Forces’ actions.
Well-planned nature of.
The ‘elves’ Armed Forces’ actions.
It was also due to the fact.
That the “disoriented” ‘orcs’ began.
To lose control of their units.
Where “utter chaos” ensued.
and a Knight,
dressed in crimson armour,
came galloping down upon her,
brandishing a great club.
Just as he reached her,
the horse stopped suddenly:
‘You’re my prisoner!’ the Knight cried,
as he tumbled off his horse.
The main successes and.
Advances by ‘elves’ forces.
On this section.
Of the front.
Took place as early as.
The beginning of summer.
And did indeed take.
The ‘orcs’ by surprise.
Startled as she was,
Alice was more frightened
for him than for herself
at the moment,
and watched him with some anxiety
as he mounted again.
As soon as he was
comfortably in the saddle,
The ‘orcs’ command.
Which had depicted.
A fictitious front line.
In its reports.
Stretching all the way.
To Svyatogorsk.
Almost 20 km west.
Of Lyman.
Did not expect to see.
Did not expect to see.
An ‘elves’ offensive effectively.
In its own rear.
However, Ukraine.
Had no other option.
However, Ukraine.
Had no other option.
he began once more
‘You’re my –’
but here another voice
broke in
‘Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!’
and Alice looked round
in some surprise
for the new enemy.
Back in the autumn.
Of 2025.
The ‘orcs’ had managed.
To break through to the west.
Across the Chornyi Zherebets River.
And establish a large bridgehead.
To the north and west.
Of Lyman.
Had they actually succeeded.
In capturing the town.
Of Svyatogorsk.
Then both Lyman itself and.
The Sloviansk-Kramatorsk conurbation.
To the south of it.
Would have been.
Under enormous threat.
This time it was
a White Knight.
He drew up at Alice’s side,
and tumbled off his horse
just as the Red Knight had done:
then he got on again,
and the two Knights sat and
looked at each other
Another question is:
Why did the ‘elves’ Armed Forces?
Allow this breakthrough?
To happen last year?
As the brigade commander of.
The 66th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
Part of the Third Army Corps.
Noted in an interview.
There was a whole range.
There was a whole range.
Of reasons.
– ranging from the incompetence.
Of individual officers.
At company commander level.
To decision-making.
At formation level.
for some time
without speaking.
Alice looked from one to the other
in some bewilderment.
‘She’s my prisoner, you know!’
the Red Knight said at last.
‘Yes, but then I came and rescued her!’
the White Knight replied.
Consequently.
By early 2026.
A counter-offensive operation.
In the Lyman sector was.
Vital for Ukraine.
Vital for Ukraine.
Which was attempting.
To prevent the enemy.
From capturing.
Its ‘belt of fortresses’.
Comprising Sloviansk.
Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka.
Operation ‘Vivaldi’.
Accomplished this task.
Accomplished this task.
With flying colours.
‘Well, we must fight for her, then,
said the Red Knight,
as he took up his helmet
and put it on.
‘You will observe
the Rules of Battle, of course?’
the White Knight remarked,
putting on his helmet too.
Over the course of.
The operation’s four phases.
The Third Army Corps.
With relatively few troops.
First managed to halt.
The enemy’s advance.
Towards Sviatohirsk.
Then force the Nitrus River.
And push the enemy.
Back 15–17 km.
Eastwards as far as.
The Chornyi Zherebets River.
‘I always do,’
said the Red Knight,
and they began banging away
at each other
with such fury that
Alice got behind a tree
to be out of the way
of the blows.
However.
They did not succeed.
In driving the ‘orcs’.
Completely back to.
The eastern bank.
Of the river.
The eastern bank.
Of the river.
‘I wonder, now,
what the Rules of Battle are,’
she said to herself,
as she watched the fight,
timidly peeping out
from her hiding-place:
timidly peeping out
from her hiding-place:
According to statements.
By the commander of.
The Third Army Corps.
And a map published by them.
The village of Ivanivka.
On the western bank.
Of the Zherebets remains.
Under ‘orcs’ occupation.
‘one Rule seems to be that,
if one Knight hits the other,
he knocks him off his horse;
he knocks him off his horse;
and, if he misses,
he tumbles off himself
and, if he misses,
he tumbles off himself
In other words.
The ‘elves’ Armed Forces.
Managed to cut off.
Managed to cut off.
As much of the ‘orcs’.
Bridgehead as possible.
Rather than eliminating.
It entirely.
– and another Rule
seems to be that they hold
their clubs in their arms,
as if they were Punch and Judy.
What a noise they make
when they tumble!
Just like a whole set of
fire-irons falling into the fender!
That said.
Pro-‘orcs’ Telegram channels.
Have published reports.
Of isolated attempts.
Of isolated attempts.
By ‘elves’ forces.
To cross the Zherebets River.
South of Ivanivka.
And engage in.
Fighting for the villages.
Of Yampolivka.
Terny and Zarichne.
There is no official information.
Regarding these operations.
From the ‘elves’ side.
From the ‘elves’ side.
And how quiet
the horses are!
They let them get on and off them
just as if they were tables!’
Another Rule of Battle,
that Alice had not noticed,
seemed to be that
they always fell on their heads,
As of mid-October.
It can be stated that.
Operation ‘Vivaldi’.
Operation ‘Vivaldi’.
Did not lead to.
A cascading collapse.
Of ‘orcs’ defences.
In the Lyman sector.
This is partly because.
‘Orcs’ redeployed reserves here.
– notably the First Tank Army –
from the neighbouring Kupiansk sector.
and the battle ended
with their both falling off
in this way,
side by side:
when they got up again,
they shook hands,
and then the Red Knight
mounted and galloped off.
The 3rd Army Corps.
On the other hand.
Conducted its offensive.
With very limited resources.
For example.
The brigade commander of.
The 66th Brigade noted that.
Only 30 fighters could.
Be mobilised to liberate.
The village of Seredne.
Which is extremely few.
For such an operation.
‘It was a glorious victory, wasn’t it?’
said the White Knight,
as he came up panting.
‘I don’t know,’
Alice said doubtfully.
‘I don’t want to be
anybody’s prisoner.
I want to be a Queen.’
Without deploying.
Additional forces to this sector.
Any ideas regarding.
The expansion of ‘Vivaldi’.
– for example.
Towards the neighbouring.
Serebryansky Forest or.
Even the town of Kreminna.
In Luhansk Oblast –
Have remained merely ideas.
Divorced from the realities.
Of modern warfare.
Give me your hand,
I’ll lead you to some biding.
Give me your hand,
I’ll lead you to some biding.
Hearty thanks:
The bounty and
the benison of heaven
To boot, and boot!
Now, the most realistic task.
For ‘elves’ units is.
To establish a robust defence.
To establish a robust defence.
Near Lyman to prevent.
Near Lyman to prevent.
Further breakthroughs.
By ‘orcs’ forces.
Take vantage,
heavy eyes,
not to behold
This shameful lodging.
Fortune, good night:
smile once more;
turn thy wheel!
turn thy wheel!
*Because I read “Операція “Вівальді” завершилась: які її підсумки і чого вона досягла(Operation Vivaldi is over: what are its results and what did it achieve?)”, analysis by Oleg Chernysh, on 14 Oct 2026 on the BBC news Ukraine, 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 Gen. Biletsky, and a story of Sylivakin, 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 Ukraine:
Операція “Вівальді” завершилась: які її підсумки і чого вона досягла – BBC News Україна
