The Queen propped her up against a tree,
and said kindly,
‘You may rest a little now.’
Alice looked round her in great surprise.
‘Why, I do believe
we’ve been under this tree
the whole time!
Everything’s just as it was!’
‘Of course it is,’ said the Queen:
‘what would you have it?’
‘Well, in our country,’
said Alice, still panting a little,
‘you’d generally get to somewhere else
– if you ran very fast
for a long time,
as we’ve been doing.’
While ‘orcs’ overnight.
Drone and missile attacks.
On Ukraine.
Have hit record levels.
On the ground.
On the ground.
Their military is.
Claiming territorial gains.
Here, father,
take the shadow of this tree
For your good host;
pray that the right may thrive:
If I ever
I return to you again,
I’ll bring you comfort.
If I ever
Last month ‘orcs’ forces.
Seized 556 sq km.
Their biggest land grab.
This year.
‘Orcs’ goal is.
To cut off supply routes.
Used by ‘elves’ troops.
In the east.
And create.
A buffer zone.
Inside Ukraine’s.
Northern borders.
Alice never could quite make out,
in thinking it over afterwards,
how it was that they began:
all she remembers is,
that they were running hand in hand,
and the Queen went so fast
that it was all she could do
to keep up with her:
But their advance remains.
Relatively slow.
At this pace.
It would take.
More than 70 years.
To capture the entire country.
Most ‘orcs’ attacks have been.
Concentrated on three areas:
The Sumy region.
The Sumy region.
That borders ‘Mordor’.
In the north-east.
The two eastern cities.
The two eastern cities.
Of Pokrovsk.
And Kostyantynivka
A third front.
West of Pokrovsk.
A third front.
West of Pokrovsk.
and still the Queen kept crying
‘Faster! Faster!’ but Alice felt
she could not go faster,
though she had no breath left to say so.
The most curious part of the thing was,
that the trees and the other things
round them never changed
their places at all:
‘Orcs’ troops managed.
To push about 10-12km.
Deep inside.
The Sumy region.
But that advance.
Has come to a stop.
In the face of.
Fierce resistance.
‘The One’ says he wants.
To create.
A buffer zone.
To protect ‘orcs’ territory.
To protect ‘orcs’ territory.
After ‘elves’ forces captured.
A swathe of Kursk territory.
Last summer.
‘Orcs’ forces eventually.
Drove them out.
With the help of North Korean.
Troops and ammunition.
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
The ‘orcs’ then crossed into Ukraine.
But quickly became.
Bogged down in fighting.
Over small border villages.
Which keep changing hands.
Even today.
Which keep changing hands.
Even today.
Without major reinforcements.
It is unlikely ‘orcs’ troops.
Will be able to push.
Much further here.
however fast they went,
they never seemed to pass anything.
‘I wonder if all the things
move along with us?’
thought poor puzzled Alice.
And the Queen seemed to guess
her thoughts, for she cried,
‘Faster! Don’t try to talk!’
Another northern region.
Where ‘orcs’ army has reportedly.
Crossed the state border.
Is Kharkiv.
Last week they claimed.
The capture of a border village.
But without committing.
Substantial resources.
But without committing.
Substantial resources.
They are unlikely to make.
Further gains.
Not that Alice had any idea
of doing that.
She felt as if she would never
be able to talk again,
she was getting so much out of breath:
and still the Queen cried
‘Faster! Faster!’
and dragged her along.
Military observers believe.
These operations are aimed at.
Forcing Ukraine to spread.
Its forces too thin along.
The entire 1,200-km.
Long front line.
So that they divert troops.
From key areas.
Here, father,
take the shadow of this tree
For your good host;
pray that the right may thrive:
If I ever
I return to you again,
I’ll bring you comfort.
If I ever
One of those frontline areas.
Is Pokrovsk.
A strategic hub.
In eastern Ukraine.
Which ‘Mordor’ has been.
Trying to capture.
For more than two years.
For more than two years.
According to the head of ‘elves’ army.
‘Mordor’ has concentrated.
some 111,000 troops.
In that area.
‘Are we nearly there?’
Alice managed to pant out at last.
‘Nearly there!’ the Queen repeated.
‘Why, we passed it ten minutes ago! Faster!’
And they ran on for a time in silence,
with the wind whistling in Alice’s ears,
and almost blowing her hair
off her head, she fancied.
‘Orcs’ rarely launch.
Massive assaults, says Lt.
From ‘elves’ 155th brigade.
Stationed near Pokrovsk.
Any large movement of.
Troops and armoured vehicles.
Will be quickly detected.
And destroyed by drones.
Instead, he says.
The ‘orcs’ rely on small groups.
Of infantry troops who.
Relentlessly attack ‘elves’ positions.
Sometimes on.
Motor bikes.
But more often.
On foot.
‘Now! Now!’ cried the Queen. ‘Faster! Faster!’
And they went so fast that at last
they seemed to skim through the air,
hardly touching the ground with their feet,
till suddenly, just as
Alice was getting quite exhausted,
they stopped, and she found herself sitting
on the ground, breathless and giddy.
This kind of “creeping offensive”.
As some call it.
Is aimed at.
Exhausting ‘elves’ resources.
Until endless waves of.
‘Orcs’ soldiers eventually.
Push the ‘elves’.
Out of their positions.
But the price they pay.
Is frighteningly high.
But the price they pay.
Is frighteningly high.
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
‘Elves’ general staff puts.
‘Orcs’ casualties at more than.
1,000 soldiers a day.
1,000 soldiers a day.
‘Orcs’ aim in eastern Ukraine.
Appears to be to create.
“A cauldron”.
Semi-encircling the ‘elves’.
Around Pokrovsk.
And Kostyantynivka.
And then forcing them.
To retreat.
The Queen propped her up against a tree,
and said kindly,
‘You may rest a little now.’
Alice looked round her in great surprise.
‘Why, I do believe
we’ve been under this tree
the whole time!
Everything’s just as it was!’
‘Orcs’ troops are now trying.
To wedge into the area.
Between these two cities.
To create “a bridgehead.”
To create “a bridgehead.
From where they can attack.
Pokrovsk or Kostyantynivka”.
Says Maj, a spokesman.
For the Khortytsya.
Operational-strategic group.
Which co-ordinates forces.
In eastern Ukraine.
‘Of course it is,’ said the Queen:
‘what would you have it?’
‘Well, in our country,’
said Alice, still panting a little,
‘you’d generally get to somewhere else
– if you ran very fast
for a long time,
as we’ve been doing.’
A breakthrough here.
Is not considered likely.
‘Orcs’ advance between.
Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk.
Is already slowing down.
And earlier attempts.
To push from other sides.
Have stalled.
Here, father,
take the shadow of this tree
For your good host;
pray that the right may thrive:
If I ever
I return to you again,
I’ll bring you comfort.
If I ever
The biggest ‘orcs’ gain.
In recent weeks was.
Further west from Pokrovsk.
In an area referred to.
By the ‘elves’ military as.
The Novopavlivske direction.
The Novopavlivske direction.
Named after the village.
Of Novopavlivka.
Which became a defence hub.
Following the westward retreat.
Of ‘elves’ troops.
‘A slow sort of country!’
said the Queen.
‘Now, here, you see, it takes
all the running you can do,
to keep in the same place.
If you want to get somewhere else,
you must run at least twice
as fast as that!’
A military observer says.
‘Orcs’ operation there was.
Most threatening for Ukraine.
As its defence measures “collapsed”.
Allowing the ‘orcs’.
Allowing the ‘orcs’.
To advance up to.
10km a day.
Their move was so rapid.
That ‘orcs’ military bloggers.
Even claimed that.
Their troops had reached.
The neighbouring.
Dnipropetrovsk region.
For the first time since.
The start of the invasion.
‘I’d rather not try,
please!’ said Alice.
‘I’m quite content to stay here
– only I am so hot and thirsty!’
‘I know what you’d like!’
the Queen said good-naturedly,
taking a little box out of her pocket.
‘Have a biscuit?’
‘Elves’ military officials deny.
These claims, saying that.
A small group of ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Entered a village.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region.
To take photos.
With an ‘orcs’ flag.
But were quickly “eliminated”.
The Maj of the Khortytsya group.
Argues this area offers.
Little strategic advantage.
For ‘orcs’ troops.
And their assault was.
Instead motivated by.
Political goals.
Political goals.
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
Advancing further into.
Dnipropetrovsk region.
May work well.
For propaganda messages.
But would require.
Greater resources that are.
Currently tied up in Pokrovsk.
And Kostyantynivka.
Alice thought it would not be civil
to say ‘No,’ though it wasn’t at all
that she wanted.
So she took it,
and ate it as well as she could:
and it was very dry;
and she thought she had never been
so nearly choked in all her life.
The ‘elves’ are nevertheless.
Facing increasing pressure.
On the front lines.
As ‘orcs’ troops are constantly.
As ‘orcs’ troops are constantly.
Trying to cut off.
Their supply lines.
With drone attacks.
‘While you’re refreshing yourself,’
said the Queen,
‘I’ll just take the measurements.’
And she took a ribbon out of her pocket,
marked in inches,
and began measuring the ground,
and sticking little pegs
in here and there.
“Those routes that we used.
Two months ago.
We can’t use them now.
Not during the daytime.”
“Not even at night.”
Said Staff Sgt.
From ‘elves’ 93rd brigade.
Stationed near Kostyantynivka.
Here, father,
take the shadow of this tree
For your good host;
pray that the right may thrive:
If I ever
I return to you again,
I’ll bring you comfort.
If I ever
As a result.
it has become.
Extremely complicated.
And slow to deliver.
Food and ammunition.
Evacuate the wounded.
And rotate troops.
On the front line.
‘At the end of two yards,’
she said, putting in a peg
to mark the distance,
‘I shall give you your directions
– have another biscuit?’
‘No, thank you,’ said Alice:
‘one’s quite enough!’
‘Thirst quenched, I hope?’
‘Orcs’ drones.
Like the Gerbera.
Can fly for.
Hundreds of kilometres.
To reach places that.
Until recently were regarded.
As relatively safe.
As relatively safe.
said the Queen.
Alice did not know what to say to this,
but luckily the Queen did not
wait for an answer,
but went on.
‘At the end of three yards
I shall repeat them
– for fear of your forgetting them.
Their aim is not just.
To erase defence lines.
But also “to terrorise.
The population”, he says.
“They systematically destroy.
Civilian buildings.
They want to undermine morale.
And weaken our faith.”
“They want to undermine morale.
And weaken our faith.
In ‘elves’ ability.
To stop the ‘orcs’.”
Away, old man;
give me thy hand; away!
Give me thy hand; come on.
Give me thy hand; come on.
Men must endure
Their going hence,
even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all: come on.
As he spoke.
He was interrupted by.
The roar of drones.
Shortly afterwards.
There were reports of.
An apartment block being hit.
It was later confirmed.
The staff sergeant had survived.
‘A slow sort of country!’
said the Queen.
‘Now, here, you see, it takes
all the running you can do,
to keep in the same place.
If you want to get somewhere else,
you must run at least twice
as fast as that!’
‘I’d rather not try,
please!’ said Alice.
‘I’m quite content to stay here
– only I am so hot and thirsty!’
‘I know what you’d like!’
the Queen said good-naturedly,
taking a little box out of her pocket.
‘Have a biscuit?’
*Because I read “Russia’s summer push in Ukraine targets three fronts but faces stern resistance” by Abdujalil Abdurasulov & BBC Visual Journalism Team on 10 Jul 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 a story of Lt Pribylnov, a story of Maj Trehubov, a story of Mashovets, and a story of Staff Sgt Pyasetskiy, 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:
Russia’s summer push in Ukraine targets three fronts but faces stern resistance
