For the first day.
In many weeks.
The ‘elves’ salient in Kursk.
Has gotten bigger, not smaller.
In August.
A strong ‘elves’ force.
Eventually numbering.
Around 20,000 troops.
Invaded Kursk Oblast.
In western ‘Mordor’.
Aiming to draw.
‘Orcs’ forces.
Away from the front line.
In eastern Ukraine.
Away from the front line.
In eastern Ukraine.
While also seizing.
Part of the oblast.
As a bargaining chip for.
Any future ceasefire negotiations.
Three months later.
An even stronger.
‘Orcs’ and.
North Korean force.
—60,000 people in all—
Counterattacked.
But the ‘orcs’ and.
North Koreans attacked.
Day after day along.
The same predictable routes.
Ultimately losing.
A third of their manpower.
Without fully ejecting.
The ‘elves’ from their.
250-square-mile salient.
Anchored by the town of Sudzha.
Exhausted.
The ‘orcs’ and.
North Korean field army.
Took “an operational pause”.
On or just before 5 February.
Was reported.
‘Orcs’ regiments.
Needed time.
‘Orcs’ regiments.
Needed time.
To induct fresh troops.
And replacement vehicles;
The 12,000-soldier.
North Korean corps.
In Kursk.
Was expected.
To rotate in.
A fresh regiment or two.
With a few thousand troops.
Taking advantage of the pause.
The ‘elves’ Siversk.
Operational Tactical Group.
In Kursk attacked.
On Thursday.
—and quickly advanced as far as.
Three miles along several axes.
On the southeastern edge.
Of the salient.
For the first day.
In many weeks.
The ‘elves’ salient in Kursk.
Has gotten bigger, not smaller.
The Siversk group advanced.
Southwest of Makhnovka.
And north and east of.
Cherkasskya Konopelka.
Along the Sudzha-Oboyan highway.
They captured at least.
Two settlements:
Kolmakov and Fanaseevka.
For the first day.
In many weeks.
The ‘elves’ salient in Kursk.
Has gotten bigger, not smaller.
The report noted.
Ongoing fighting.
In Cherkasskya Konopelka.
But if that’s true.
The ‘orcs’ in the settlement.
Have been bypassed.
By the bulk of.
The ‘elves’ tactical group.
For the first day.
In many weeks.
The ‘elves’ salient in Kursk.
Has gotten bigger, not smaller.
That implies.
They’ve been cut off.
From the main ‘orcs’ force.
Farther to the east.
Including the battered.
810th Naval Infantry Brigade.
The ‘orcs’ reported.
Four waves of ‘elves’ forces.
Four waves of ‘elves’ forces.
‘Orcs’ drone feeds.
Depicted long.
Widely spaced columns.
Of ‘elves’ mine-resistant trucks.
And other vehicles.
Speeding along.
The Sudzha-Oboyan highway.
The ‘orcs’ flung.
Explosive FPV drones.
At the ‘elves’ force.
Some of the FPVs missed.
Possibly thwarted.
By ‘elves’ jamming.
‘Orcs’ inexperience or both.
Other drones hit.
The ‘elves’ abandoned.
A BMP tracked fighting vehicle.
A VAB wheeled.
Armored personnel carrier.
At least one mine-resistant truck.
And a couple of tanks.
But the losses didn’t.
Slow the assault.
Rolling through Fanaseevka.
The ‘elves’ vehicles.
Dropped off their infantry.
In the trees east of the settlement.
‘Orcs’ artillery dialed in.
And on the first night.
Of the ‘elves’ operation.
North Korean troops.
North Korean troops.
—who reportedly had been.
In the process of withdrawing.
From Kursk—
Turned around and counterattacked.
In groups of 20.
According to an ‘elf’.
Veteran and blogger.
Who relays reports from.
‘Elves’ troops on the front line.
The fighting rages on.
The fighting rages on.
But some analysts.
Were sufficiently confident.
In ‘elves’ advances.
To mark them on the map.
For the first day.
In many weeks.
The ‘elves’ salient in Kursk.
Has gotten bigger, not smaller.
*Because I read “Russian Troops In Kursk Stood Down To Rest. That’s The Moment Ukrainian Troops Chose To Counterattack.” by David Axe on 7 Feb 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 the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies, a report of WarTranslated, and the marking of the definitive Ukraine Control Map.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
