“For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light:
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright.”
Moscow has stepped up.
Its threats to Ukraine.
Moscow has stepped up.
Its threats to Ukraine.
Warning of.
“Consistent, systematic strikes.
On Kyiv targeting.
Its military industrial complex”.
“The rest of my speech” (he explained to his men)
“You shall hear when I’ve leisure to speak it.
But the Snark is at hand, let me tell you again!
‘Tis your glorious duty to seek it!
It has also warned.
Foreign citizens and.
Diplomatic staff to leave.
The city “as soon as possible”.
It sounds ominous.
But does it signal?
Something new?
Something new?
“To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care;
To pursue it with forks and hope;
To threaten its life with a railway-share;
To charm it with smiles and soap!
By ramping up.
Its rhetoric.
Is ‘Mordor’ also about to?
Intensify its war?
In one sense.
Such threats are nothing new.
In one sense.
Such threats are nothing new.
“For the Snark’s a peculiar creature, that won’t
Be caught in a commonplace way.
Do all that you know, and try all that you don’t:
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!
‘Elves’ foreign ministry.
Points out that.
‘Mordor’ has been targeting.
Towns and cities.
‘Mordor’ has been targeting.
Towns and cities.
Every week.
For more than four years now.
“My father and mother were honest, though poor—”
“Skip all that!” cried the Bellman in haste.
“If it once becomes dark, there’s no chance of a Snark—
We have hardly a minute to waste!”
It assesses.
“The overall level of.
Security threats.
Posed by ‘Mordor’.”
“To Kyiv and.
Other cities remains.
The same as previous.
Months and years”.
“I skip forty years,” said the Baker, in tears,
“And proceed without further remark
To the day when you took me aboard of your ship
To help you in hunting the Snark.
What is new is.
The language used.
By the Kremlin.
To justify such attacks.
– and it is related to.
One specific incident.
Moscow has accused Ukraine.
Of deliberately killing.
21 students.
In a strike last week.
On Starobilsk.
In Luhansk province.
“A dear uncle of mine (after whom I was named)
Remarked, when I bade him farewell—”
“Oh, skip your dear uncle!” the Bellman exclaimed,
As he angrily tingled his bell.
Ukraine still insists.
It hit a military facility.
It hit a military facility.
In ‘orcs’-occupied territory.
But Moscow is presenting.
The incident.
And what it claims.
And what it claims.
To be a deliberate attack.
On civilians.
As a legitimate reason.
For retaliation.
“He remarked to me then,” said that mildest of men,
“‘If your Snark be a Snark, that is right:
Fetch it home by all means—you may serve it with greens,
And it’s handy for striking a light.
In the past.
Such attacks have.
Rarely required.
Such an explanation.
Nor has ‘Mordor’ shown.
Much remorse about causing.
Its own civilian casualties.
In Ukraine.
Any retaliation.
On Kyiv would only.
Likely kill more.
Likely kill more.
“‘You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care;
You may hunt it with forks and hope;
You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
You may charm it with smiles and soap—’”
But a military analyst and.
Former ‘elves’ intelligence officer.
Believes it is a sign.
Believes it is a sign.
That Moscow is struggling.
To control.
The narrative of the war.
The narrative of the war.
He says: “When you have.
Problems with the economy.
And ‘orcs’ society, then.
There’s pressure for revenge.”
(“That’s exactly the method,” the Bellman bold
In a hasty parenthesis cried,
“That’s exactly the way I have always been told
That the capture of Snarks should be tried!”)
The rhetoric may.
Well reflect growing.
Frustration and anger.
In the Kremlin.
But the ‘elves’ National Security.
And Defence Council believes.
There are other reasons.
For the threats.
Unrelated to.
The Luhansk attack.
Unrelated to.
The Luhansk attack.
“‘But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
And never be met with again!’
The first is ‘orcs’ lack.
Of success.
On the battlefield.
He says, adding:
“In the absence of.
Strategic results.
On the front.”
On the front.”
“The Kremlin is.
Trying to exert.
Psychological pressure.
On Ukraine.”
“It is this, it is this that oppresses my soul,
When I think of my uncle’s last words:
And my heart is like nothing so much as a bowl
Brimming over with quivering curds!
He believes that.
Pressure is also.
Being applied to.
‘Elves’ allies.
With Moscow warning.
Diplomatic staff.
To leave Kyiv.
To leave Kyiv.
“It is this, it is this—“ “We have had that before!”
The Bellman indignantly said.
And the Baker replied “Let me say it once more.
It is this, it is this that I dread!
Strong European support.
For Ukraine.
Both politically.
And military.
Has long been seen.
In the Kremlin.
As a major obstacle.
To its war aims.
“I engage with the Snark—every night after dark—
In a dreamy delirious fight:
I serve it with greens in those shadowy scenes,
And I use it for striking a light:
Thirdly, he says.
There “is an attempt.
To divert attention from.
‘Elves’ long-range strikes.”
“On ‘Mordor’’s territory.
And its own ability to defend.
Its own territories.
Including Moscow”.
“But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day,
In a moment (of this I am sure),
I shall softly and suddenly vanish away—
And the notion I cannot endure!”
In short, the war.
– now entering its fifth year –
Is currently not going in.
The right direction for Moscow.
A report has assessed.
“The character of the war.
Is shifting in favour of.
‘Elves’ forces.”
“- at least for now”.
It says ‘Mordor’ is.
Losing more soldiers.
To make fewer gains.
The Bellman looked uffish, and wrinkled his brow.
“If only you’d spoken before!
It’s excessively awkward to mention it now,
With the Snark, so to speak, at the door!
‘Orcs’ casualties.
Have been outpacing.
Its monthly recruitment.
Figures for five months.
The pressure is.
Increasing in Moscow.
The pressure is.
Increasing in Moscow.
“We should all of us grieve, as you well may believe,
If you never were met with again—
But surely, my man, when the voyage began,
You might have suggested it then?
Another analyst says.
With ‘Mordor’.
“Facing growing industrial.
And manpower constraints.”
“It must soon decide.
Whether to forcibly mobilise.
Its economy.
And society”.
“It’s excessively awkward to mention it now—
As I think I’ve already remarked.”
And the man they called “Hi!” replied, with a sigh,
“I informed you the day we embarked.
Forcing people to sign up.
To join the military.
“Would be highly disruptive.
And unpopular”, he says.
And could carry major risks.
For ‘Mordor’’s stability.
But none of this alters.
The threat to Ukraine.
“You may charge me with murder—or want of sense—
(We are all of us weak at times):
But the slightest approach to a false pretence
Was never among my crimes!
Kyiv is still recovering.
From ‘orcs’ most recent.
“Revenge attack”.
“Revenge attack”.
Over the weekend.
When ‘orcs’ launched.
Nearly 600 drones.
And 90 missiles.
Most of them directed.
At the capital.
Most of them directed.
At the capital.
‘Elves’ air defences destroyed.
Most of the drones.
But 35 missiles still.
Hit a target.
“I said it in Hebrew—I said it in Dutch—
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!”
The bombardment included.
The rare use of.
At least one ‘orcs’.
Hypersonic Oreshnik missile.
– fitted with six warheads.
And extremely difficult.
To shoot down using.
Conventional air defence systems.
“’Tis a pitiful tale,” said the Bellman, whose face
Had grown longer at every word:
“But, now that you’ve stated the whole of your case,
More debate would be simply absurd.
The former ‘elves’ intelligence officer.
Says the missile’s.
Primary use is for.
“Propaganda purposes”.
So far, he says.
‘Orcs’ Oreshniks have only.
Been carrying inert warheads.
And have caused limited damage.
“The rest of my speech” (he explained to his men)
“You shall hear when I’ve leisure to speak it.
But the Snark is at hand, let me tell you again!
‘Tis your glorious duty to seek it!
Kyiv may well struggle.
To deal with.
Similar large-scale.
Repeated attacks.
‘Gandalf the Green’ has.
Renewed his appeals.
To allies for.
More air defence systems.
“To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care;
To pursue it with forks and hope;
To threaten its life with a railway-share;
To charm it with smiles and soap!
A spokesman for.
‘Elves’ Air Force says.
The main problem remains.
“The limited number of.”
“The limited number of.
Interceptor missiles.
Available for.
‘Elves’ air defences”.
“For the Snark’s a peculiar creature, that won’t
Be caught in a commonplace way.
Do all that you know, and try all that you don’t:
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!
US-made Patriots remain.
The only effective weapon.
For shooting down.
‘Orcs’ ballistic missiles.
They are in short supply.
There may be signs.
That ‘Mordor’ is getting.
More desperate.
– but for Ukraine.
And its allies too.
That may be a reason.
To worry.
“For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light:
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright.”
*Because I read “Russia ramps up threats against Ukraine. What does that say about the war?” by Jonathan Beale on 26 May 2026, 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 Stupak, a story of Kovalenko, a report of the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, a story of Gould-Davies, and a story of Inhat, led by “some lines” quoted in the last part of ‘CHAPTER XVIII YUGOSLAVIA AND GREECE’ of ‘BOOK II ALONE May 10, 1940–June 22, 1941’ in ‘The Second World War: The Classic One-Volume Abridgment’ written by Winston S. Churchill, and ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Russia ramps up threats against Ukraine. What does that say about the war?
