They placed themselves
close to where Hatta,
the other Messenger,
was standing watching the fight,
with a cup of tea
in one hand and
a piece of bread-and-butter
in the other.
‘He’s only just out of prison,
and he hadn’t finished
his tea when he was sent in,’
Haigha whispered to Alice:
‘and they only give them
oyster-shells in there
– so you see he’s very
hungry and thirsty.
Since his release.
From an ‘orcs’ prison.
He has barely been.
Off the phone.
The ‘elf’ journalist.
Was detained.
By ‘orcs’ forces.
In the first days.
Of their full-scale invasion.
Three and a half years later.
He’s been released.
In a prisoner swap.
One of eight civilians freed.
In a surprise move.
One of eight civilians freed.
In a surprise move.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
White Pawn to play.
And win in eleven moves.
While ‘Mordor’ and Ukraine.
Have swapped.
Military prisoners.
Of war before.
It is very rare for ‘Mordor’.
To release ‘elves’ civilians.
It is very rare for ‘Mordor’.
To release ‘elves’ civilians.
‘For instance, now,’
‘there’s the King’s Messenger.
He’s in prison now,
being punished;
and the trial doesn’t even
begin till next Wednesday:
and of course
the crime comes last of all.’
He has been catching up.
Frantically on all.
He’s missed.
He’s missed.
But he’s also phoning.
The families of every ‘elf’.
He met in captivity:
He met in captivity:
He memorised.
He memorised.
All their names.
And each detail.
He knows that for some.
His call may be.
The first confirmation that.
Their relative is alive.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
White Pawn to play.
And win in eleven moves.
There were celebrations.
Here last month.
When he was returned.
From ‘Mordor’.
When he was returned.
From ‘Mordor’.
In a group of.
146 ‘elves’.
‘I’m sure I’ll
take you with pleasure!’
the Queen said.
‘Twopence a week,
‘Twopence a week,
and jam every other day.’
Alice couldn’t help laughing,
as she said,
A crowd came out waving.
Blue and yellow national flags.
Cheering as the buses carrying.
The freed men passed.
Cheering as the buses carrying.
The freed men passed.
Hooting their horns.
Hooting their horns.
‘I don’t want you
to hire me
– and I don’t care for jam.’
‘It’s very good jam,’
‘It’s very good jam,’
said the Queen.
‘Well, I don’t want any to-day,
at any rate.’
Most on board were soldiers.
With sunken cheeks.
Emaciated after.
Their years behind bars.
Officials won’t say.
Exactly how they got.
The eight ‘elves’ civilians back.
In the same exchange.
Only that it involved.
Sending back in return.
“People ‘Mordor’ was.
Interested in”.
‘You couldn’t have it
if you did want it,’
the Queen said.
‘The rule is,
‘The rule is,
jam to-morrow and
jam yesterday
– but never jam to-day.’
One source said.
Those included residents.
Of the Kursk region.
In ‘Mordor’.
Evacuated when ‘elves’ forces.
Launched their 2024 incursion.
The group’s exact status.
After that is unclear.
‘It must come sometimes
to “jam to-day,”’
Alice objected.
‘No, it can’t,’
‘No, it can’t,’
said the Queen.
‘It’s jam every other day:
to-day isn’t any other day, you know.’
Stepping off the bus.
To a cheering crowd.
His first phone call was.
To tell his mother.
His first phone call was.
To tell his mother.
He was free.
He was free.
‘I don’t understand you,’
said Alice.
‘It’s dreadfully confusing!’
‘That’s the effect
of living backwards,’
the Queen said kindly:
‘it always makes one
a little giddy at first –’
Both his parents are.
Elderly and unwell.
And his greatest fear had been.
Never seeing them again.
“The hardest was.
Not knowing when.
You’ll be allowed back.
You could be freed.”
“The next day or stay.
Prisoner for 10 years.
Nobody knows.
How long it’s for.”
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
White Pawn to play.
And win in eleven moves.
You met him.
Shortly after his release.
As he recuperated.
At a Kyiv hospital.
The details he shared.
Of his captivity are chilling.
“They grabbed us.
And literally dragged us.”
“To the prison.
And on the way.
They beat us.
With rubber batons.”
“Shouting things like.
‘How many people have you killed?’”
He said, describing.
His transfer to ‘Mordor’.
‘She can’t do Addition,’
the Red Queen interrupted.
‘Can you do Subtraction?
Take nine from eight.’
‘Nine from eight
I can’t, you know,’
Alice replied
very ready: ‘but –’
He was held in multiple facilities.
And his account chimes.
With many others.
You’ve heard over the years.
“Sometimes they’d let.
The guard dog off.
Its leash so that.
It could bite us.”
“The cruelty was.
Really shocking.
And it was constant.”
And it was constant.”
He was bitten.
And left bleeding.
“I was so stressed I only.
Felt the pain 20 minutes later.”
The journalist was.
Never charged.
Never charged.
With any crime.
‘She can’t do Subtraction,’
said the White Queen.
‘Can you do Division?
Divide a loaf by a knife
– what’s the answer to that?’
‘I suppose –’ Alice was beginning,
but the Red Queen
answered for her.
Physically the first year.
Was the hardest.
“We were starving.
We were given.”
“Very little food.
For a long time.”
He lost more than 20kg.
In the first few months.
Causing him dizzy spells.
But the soldiers.
He was held with.
Were treated far worse.
“They would call them.
For interrogation.
And they were beaten.
And tortured with electric shock.”
He heard their pain.
And saw the bruises.
He heard their pain.
And saw the bruises.
‘Bread-and-butter, of course.
Try another Subtraction sum.
Take a bone from a dog:
what remains?’
Alice considered.
‘The bone wouldn’t remain,
of course, if I took it
– and the dog wouldn’t remain:
The journalist’s family home.
Is a world.
Away from all that.
In the pretty village.
Of Kozarovychi.
Just outside Kyiv.
It feels peaceful.
Apart from the air raids.
With gardens.
Full of poultry.
Blackberry bushes.
And fruit trees.
But the back wall of.
His house still has chunks.
Torn out of it.
By shrapnel.
And the lawn was.
Only just repaired.
Where ‘orcs’ troops had parked.
A tank.
it would come to bite me
– and I’m sure
I shouldn’t remain!’
I shouldn’t remain!’
‘Then you think
nothing would remain?’
said the Red Queen.
‘I think that’s the answer.’
In 2022.
Right at the start of.
Their full-scale invasion.
When the ‘orcs’ were advancing.
On Kyiv.
They took over the village.
The pretty village.
Of Kozarovychi.
‘Wrong, as usual,’
said the Red Queen.
‘the dog’s temper would remain.’
‘But I don’t see how –’
‘Why, look here!’
the Red Queen cried.
‘The dog would lose
its temper, wouldn’t it?’
A few days later.
As he and his father.
Tried to check the damage.
To their home.
They were detained.
‘Orcs’ troops forced.
Both men to the ground.
Bound and blindfolded them.
And marched them.
Into captivity.
The pair now know.
The pair now know.
They were held.
In a basement beneath.
The local warehouses where.
The ‘orcs’ had made their base.
‘Perhaps it would,’
Alice replied cautiously.
‘Then if the dog went away,
its temper would remain!’
the Queen exclaimed triumphantly.
Alice said,
as gravely as she could,
‘They might go different ways.’
The men were moved.
Several times.
As the number of.
Civilian detainees increased.
His father was eventually.
Set free but.
For many months.
He feared the worst for his son.
“I didn’t know.
Where he’d been taken.
And I was scared.”
The pensioner tells you.
“There were gunshots at night.
One man was taken outside.
Then a shot was fired.
He didn’t come back.”
“I still don’t know.
The fate of all the people.
Who were there.”
Who were there.”
‘She can’t do sums a bit!’
the Queens said together,
with great emphasis.
‘Can you do sums?’
Alice said, turning
suddenly on the White Queen,
for she didn’t like being
found fault with so much.
Then he and his wife.
Got a tiny scrap of paper.
From an ‘orcs’ prison.
From an ‘orcs’ prison.
“I’m alive, I’m well.
Everything’s ok.”
Son wrote to them both.
In the ‘elves’-language.
They would receive.
Just one more note.
In his entire time.
In captivity.
‘He’s only just out of prison,
and he hadn’t finished
his tea when he was sent in,’
Haigha whispered to Alice:
‘and they only give them
oyster-shells in there
– so you see he’s very
hungry and thirsty.
How are you, dear child?’
he went on,
putting his arm affectionately
round Hatta’s neck.
Hatta looked round
and nodded,
and went on with
his bread-and-butter.
Other families have had.
No news at all.
Other families have had.
No news at all.
Across Ukraine.
Officials say more than.
16,000 civilians.
Are currently missing.
So far, they’ve only located.
A fraction of them.
In ‘orcs’ prisons.
In ‘orcs’ prisons.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
White Pawn to play.
And win in eleven moves.
Moscow doesn’t publish lists.
Because detaining civilians.
With no cause.
Is illegal.
But that makes.
Getting them back.
Extremely complicated.
Extremely complicated.
‘For instance, now,’
‘there’s the King’s Messenger.
He’s in prison now,
being punished;
and the trial doesn’t even
begin till next Wednesday:
and of course
the crime comes last of all.’
Forty-three men are.
Still being held.
From the area around.
The journalist’s village alone.
They include a man.
Detained at the same time.
Held in the same basements.
And then moved to ‘Mordor’.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
White Pawn to play.
And win in eleven moves.
He now has a new grandson.
He’s never met.
And a family.
Who miss him badly.
“It’s hard.
It’s really hard.
We smile, yes.
And thank goodness.”
“I have a new grandson.”
His wife says.
As the baby gurgles.
Beside her on a play mat.
“But I had a husband.
– and now I don’t.”
“But I had a husband.
– and now I don’t.”
“The government says.
It won’t swap our relatives.
For ‘orcs’ soldiers.
So we are left.”
“Waiting for the fourth year.
Running until.
There is some way.
To get them back.”
‘Living backwards!’
Alice repeated
in great astonishment.
‘I never heard of such a thing!’
‘- but there’s one
great advantage in it,
that one’s memory
works both ways.’
His wife is.
Deeply frustrated.
But so is ‘elves’.
Human rights ombudsman.
The ombudsman describes.
Dealing with ‘Mordor’.
As like playing chess:
As like playing chess:
You stick to.
All the rules.
You stick to.
All the rules.
Only for your opponent.
To stand up.
Pull on boxing gloves.
And punch you.
‘I’m sure mine only works
one way,’ Alice remarked.
‘I can’t remember
things before they happen.’
‘It’s a poor sort
of memory that
only works backwards,’
the Queen remarked.
The problem is.
Ukraine can’t hit back.
It has no pool of.
‘Orcs’ civilian prisoners.
Because it’s against.
Because it’s against.
The rules of war under.
The Geneva Convention.
Sending ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Back in return.
For ‘elves’ civilians.
Would be a disaster.
‘What sort of things
do you remember best?’
Alice ventured to ask.
‘Oh, things that happened
‘Oh, things that happened
the week after next,’
the Queen replied
in a careless tone.
“The very next day.
‘Mordor’ would take.
Thousands of civilians hostage.
In occupied areas.”
“Just to swap.
For its soldiers.”
The ombudsman points out.
“So ‘Mordor’ is capturing.”
“So ‘Mordor’ is capturing.
Our civilians and.
There is no legal mechanism.
To return them.”
‘For instance, now,’
she went on, sticking
a large piece of plaster
on her finger as she spoke,
‘there’s the King’s Messenger.
He’s in prison now,
being punished;
being punished;
There has been one trade.
Involving ‘elves’ citizens.
Detained and sentenced.
Here for collaborating.
With the enemy:
A group – said to be volunteers –
Was swapped for ‘elves’ civilians.
Held in ‘Mordor’.
It’s not clear whether.
That has been repeated.
It’s not clear whether.
That has been repeated.
and the trial doesn’t even
begin till next Wednesday:
and of course
the crime comes last of all.’
‘Suppose he never commits
the crime?’ said Alice.
‘That would be all the better,
wouldn’t it?’
For the journalist’s family.
The long and painful wait.
Is almost over.
Is almost over.
He’ll join them.
In the village.
As soon as the hospital.
Declares him fit again.
the Queen said,
as she bound the plaster
round her finger
with a bit of ribbon.
Alice felt there was
no denying that.
‘Of course it would be
all the better,’ she said:
His mother jokes that.
She has a long list of jobs.
For her only son.
For her only son.
– fixing all the damage.
Done by the ‘orcs’.
In fact, she can barely mention.
His name without crying.
“I can’t control my emotions.”
She tells you, in tears.
“When he called.
He told me to be calm.”
“That he was back.
In Ukraine.
And I shouldn’t.
Cry anymore.”
“But we haven’t seen our son.
For three and a half years!”
“But we haven’t seen our son.
For three and a half years!”
‘but it wouldn’t be
all the better
his being punished.’
his being punished.’
‘You’re wrong there,
at any rate,’
said the Queen:
‘were you ever punished?’
The journalist is taking it.
Slowly though.
Because being back here.
Requires some adjusting.
“I knew the war.
Was still going on.
But not that they were.
Bombarding Kyiv with drones.”
“And that was unexpected.
And sad,” he says.
“So the trees are the same.
The buildings are the same.”
“But you understand.
This is a different country.
You’re in.
A different reality.”
How are you, dear child?’
he went on,
putting his arm affectionately
round Hatta’s neck.
Hatta looked round
and nodded,
and went on with
his bread-and-butter.
‘Were you happy in prison,
dear child?’ said Haigha.
Hatta looked round
once more,
and this time a tear or two
trickled down his cheek:
but not a word
would he say.
*Because I read “Beaten and held in Russia for three years – but never charged with a crime” by Sarah Rainsford on 16 Sep 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 Dmytro, Vasyl and Halyna, a story of Volodymyr, Vera and Yaroslav, and a story of Lubinets, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Ukrainian civilian freed in prisoner swap tells of ‘constant cruelty’
