Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
The mass killing of.
Military trainees.
Gathered out.
In the open.
And within range of.
Enemy ballistic missiles.
By uncaring commanders.
Is an awful tradition.
In ‘orcs’ three-year wider war.
On Ukraine.
Usually.
It’s the ‘orcs’.
Who callously expose.
Their recruits to bombardment.
This time.
It was the ‘elves’.
Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
On Saturday.
An ‘orcs’ Orlan drone winged.
80 miles behind.
The front line.
In eastern Ukraine.
And took up station.
Over the Cherkas’ke.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
There’s a training base.
In Cherkas’ke that’s normally.
Staffed by the ‘elves’ army’s.
168th Reserve Battalion.
Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
On Saturday.
The battalion was reportedly.
Hosting troops transferring out of.
The army’s newly organized.
The army’s newly organized.
157th Mechanized Brigade.
Critically.
There was no camouflage netting.
No earthworks.
To shelter the troops.
As they milled about.
In broad daylight.
No local air defenses.
To swat down ‘orcs’ drones.
Base commanders were.
Habitually “indifferent”.
Habitually “indifferent”.
To their trainees’ vulnerability.
One soldier who spent.
Some time at Cherkas’ke said.
Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
Cued by the drone.
An Iskander ballistic missile.
Streaked in.
Just one of around 20.
Just one of around 20.
‘Orcs’ ballistic missiles.
That struck Ukraine.
Last week.
32 soldiers died.
And another 100 were wounded.
When the 168th Reserve Battalion’s.
Training grounds exploded.
Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
“The command and personnel.
Of the armed forces.
Express their deepest condolences.”
The ‘elves’ ground forces’ command stated.
Gen., the head of the ground forces.
Vowed to investigate.
—and hold.
Negligent officers accountable.
“No one hides behind.
Explanations or formal reports.”
He wrote.
“I predict that.”
“I predict that.”
“They will try to hide.
The truth in the mist of bureaucracy.
But I will not have this.”
Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
If there’s a difference.
Between the ‘elves’ deep strikes.
On ‘orcs’ training grounds.
And the less frequent.
And the less frequent.
‘Orcs’ strikes.
On ‘elves’ training grounds.
It’s the official response.
It’s the official response.
—and palpable anger.
At the highest levels—
Following the Cherkas’ke massacre.
The ‘elves’ commander’s outrage.
Isn’t just personal, however.
It’s surely informed by the dire state.
Of ‘elves’ military manpower.
People are the one thing.
The ‘elves’ armed forces.
Desperately need.
—and don’t have in abundance.
Kyiv can’t afford.
To lose troops.
In preventable attacks.
On their training facilities.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
And leaders in Kyiv.
Know it.
*Because I read “Ukrainian Trainees Gathered Near The Front Line. Then A Russian Ballistic Missile Thundered Down.” by David Axe on 3 Mar 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 reports of Yuriy Butusov, and a story of Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
Ukrainian Trainees Assembled In The Open, And A Missile Streaked In
