She never finished the sentence,
for at this moment
a heavy crash shook the forest
from end to end.
‘Gandalf the Green’.
Shakes hands with.
The Head of SBU.
Who had reported.
On the operation.
Against ‘orcs’ airbases.
“Operation Spider’s Web”.
“Operation Spider’s Web”.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
It’s hard to exaggerate.
The sheer audacity.
– or ingenuity –
– or ingenuity –
That went into.
Ukraine’s countrywide assault.
On ‘Mordor’’s air force.
It’s hard to exaggerate.
‘The Lion and the Unicorn
were fighting for the crown:
The Lion beat the Unicorn
all round the town.
It’s clear that.
“Operation Spider’s Web” was.
At the very least.
A spectacular propaganda coup.
‘Elves’ are already.
Comparing it with other.
Notable military successes.
Since ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
Including the sinking of.
The flagship of ‘orcs’.
Black Sea fleet, the Moskva.
And the bombing of the Kerch Bridge.
Both in 2022.
As well as a missile attack.
On Sevastopol harbour.
The following year.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
Judging by details.
Leaked to the media by.
The Security Service of Ukraine.
The latest operation is.
The most elaborate.
Achievement so far.
The most elaborate.
Achievement so far.
Some gave them white bread,
some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum-cake
and drummed them out of town.’
In an operation.
Said to have taken.
18 months to prepare.
Scores of small drones.
Were smuggled into ‘Mordor’.
Stored in special compartments.
Aboard freight trucks.
Driven to at least.
Four separate locations.
Thousands of miles apart.
And launched remotely.
Towards nearby airbases.
At this moment
the Unicorn sauntered by them,
with his hands
in his pockets.
“No intelligence operation.
In the world has done.
Anything like this before.”
One defence analyst said.
“These strategic bombers.
Are capable of launching.
Long-range strikes.
Against us,” he said.
“There are only.
120 of them and.
We struck 40.
That’s an incredible figure.”
when his eye happened to
fall upon Alice:
he turned round instantly,
and stood for some time
looking at her with
an air of the deepest disgust.
‘What – is – this?’
‘This is a child!’
It is hard to assess the damage.
But an ‘elf’ military blogger says.
That even if the bombers.
And command.
And control aircraft.
Were not destroyed.
The impact is enormous.
The impact is enormous.
“The extent of the damage.
Is such that the ‘orcs’.
Military-industrial complex.
In its current state.”
“Is unlikely to be.
Able to restore them.
In the near future.”
He wrote.
‘I always thought
they were fabulous monsters!’
said the Unicorn.
‘Is it alive?’
The Unicorn looked
dreamingly at Alice,
and said
‘Talk, child.’
The strategic missile-carrying.
Bombers in question.
The Tu-95.
Tu-22, and.
Tu-160 are, he said.
No longer in production.
Repairing them will be difficult.
Replacing them impossible.
The loss of the supersonic.
Tu-160, he said.
Would be especially.
Keenly felt.
Alice could not help
her lips curling up
into a smile
as she began:
‘Do you know,
I always thought Unicorns were
fabulous monsters, too!
I never saw once alive before!’
“Today, the ‘orcs’.
Aerospace Forces lost.
Not just two of.
Their rarest aircraft.”
“Not just two of.
Their rarest aircraft.
But truly two unicorns.
In the herd.”
‘Well, now that
we have seen each other,’
said the Unicorn,
‘if you’ll believe in me,
I’ll believe in you.
Is that a bargain?’
‘Yes, if you like,’
said Alice.
Beyond the physical damage.
Which may or may not be.
As great as analysts here.
Are assessing.
Operation Spider’s Web.
Sends another critical message.
Not just to ‘Mordor’.
But also to ‘elves’ western allies.
There was a long pause.
‘Is that all?’ Alice timidly asked.
‘That’s all,’ said Humpty Dumpty.
‘Good-bye.’
You recall a recent encounter.
With a government official.
In Kyiv.
The official was frustrated.
“The biggest problem.”
The official said.
“Is that the Americans have.
Convinced themselves.”
“We’ve already.
Lost the war.
And from that assumption.
Everything else follows.”
Alice waited a minute
to see if he would speak again,
but as he never opened his eyes
or took any further notice of her,
An ‘elf’ defence journalist.
Puts it another way.
With a pointed reference to.
That encounter.
With a pointed reference to.
‘Gandalf the Green’’s infamous.
Oval office encounter.
With the US President.
“This is what happens.
When a proud nation.
Under attack doesn’t.
Listen to all those:”
“‘Ukraine has only six months left’.
‘You have no cards’.
‘Just surrender for peace.
‘Mordor’ cannot lose’.”
she said ‘Good-bye!’
once more, and,
getting no answer to this,
she quietly walked away:
Even more pithy was.
A tweet which proudly proclaimed.
“It turns out Ukraine.
Does have some cards after all.”
“It turns out Ukraine.
Does have some cards after all.
Today ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Played the King of Drones.”
but she couldn’t help
saying to herself
as she went,
‘Of all the unsatisfactory –’
This, then, is the message.
‘Elves’ delegates carry.
As they arrive in Istanbul.
For a fresh round.
Of ceasefire negotiations.
With representatives.
From the Kremlin:
Ukraine is still in the fight.
(she repeated this aloud,
as it was a great comfort
to have such a long word
to say)
The Americans “begin acting.
As if their role is.
To negotiate for us.
The softest possible terms.”
“The softest possible terms.
Of surrender.”
The government official said.
“And then they’re offended.”
“When we don’t thank them.
But of course we don’t.
– because we don’t believe.
We’ve been defeated.”
‘of all the unsatisfactory
people I ever met –’
She never finished the sentence,
for at this moment
Despite ‘orcs’ slow.
Inexorable advance through.
The battlefields of the Donbas.
Ukraine is telling.
‘Mordor’ and.
The US President’s administration.
Not to dismiss.
‘Elves’ prospects so easily.
She never finished the sentence,
for at this moment
a heavy crash shook the forest
from end to end.
*Because I read “Ukraine’s audacious drone attack sends critical message to Russia – and the West” by Paul Adams on 2 Jun 2025, 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 an analysis of Serhii Kuzan, a report of Oleksandr Kovalenko, a story of Svyatoslav Khomenko, and a report of Illia Ponomarenko, inspired by the title and the play itself of ‘Spider’s Web’ written by Agatha Christie (novelised by Charles Osborne), and also led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukraine’s audacious drone attack sends critical message to Russia – and the West
