“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.”
‘Mordor’ has threatened.
To launch a fresh wave.
Of “systematic strikes”.
Against Kyiv.
Days after carrying out.
One of its largest attacks.
On the ‘elves’ capital.
Since the start of the war.
There was silence supreme! Not a shriek, not a scream,
Scarcely even a howl or a groan,
As the man they called “Ho!” told his story of woe
In an antediluvian tone.
The new strikes will target.
The new strikes will target.
“Decision-making centres.
And command posts”.
Alongside drone manufacturing.
Facilities in the city.
‘Orcs’ foreign ministry said.
In a statement.
“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!”
Moscow has called for.
Foreign nationals and diplomats.
To leave Kyiv.
“As soon as possible”.
And warned citizens.
To stay away from.
Administrative and.
Military buildings.
“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.
Ukraine said ‘orcs’ threats.
Were “nothing short of.
Shameless blackmail”.
And urged allies.
To increase pressure.
On ‘Mordor’.
To increase pressure.
On ‘Mordor’.
“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.
With its warning.
To foreign nationals.
With its warning.
To foreign nationals.
Moscow is “effectively.
Admitting that.
Its shelling is aimed.
Among other things.”
“At intimidating.
The foreign diplomatic corps”.
The foreign diplomatic corps”.
The statement continued.
“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.
It said ‘orcs’ strikes on Kyiv.
“Have not ceased for.
Virtually a single week”.
Since the start of the war.
And the overall security threat.
Posed by Moscow.
“Remains the same as.
In previous years or months”.
“‘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—’”
Large-scale ‘orcs’ strikes.
On Saturday night.
Large-scale ‘orcs’ strikes.
On Saturday night.
Killed four and.
Injured about 100 people.
In Kyiv and other areas.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
(“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!”)
Moscow said that barrage.
And threatened further strikes.
Were in response.
To what it claims was.
A deliberate ‘elves’ attack.
On a student dormitory.
In the town of Starobilsk.
On Friday.
In the town of Starobilsk.
On Friday.
In which ‘orcs’ officials said.
21 people were killed.
“‘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!’
‘Elves’ military said.
Its forces had struck.
Its forces had struck.
An elite ‘orcs’ military drone unit.
In the area.
In ‘orcs’-occupied eastern Ukraine.
And had not targeted civilians.
And had not targeted civilians.
“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!
‘Mordor’ has launched.
Several waves of deadly.
Missile and drone attacks.
On Kyiv.
Since a brief ceasefire.
That coincided with Moscow’s.
Annual Victory Day parade.
Expired earlier in May.
“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!
Shortly after that.
‘Orcs’ strikes on Kyiv.
Killed 24 people.
Killed 24 people.
Including three children.
In a block of flats.
Including three children.
In a block of flats.
“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:
Days later.
‘Orcs’ officials said.
Three people were killed.
In a large-scale ‘elves’ drone attack.
On the Moscow region.
With ‘Gandalf the Green’ saying.
The strikes were.
An “entirely justified” response.
To deadly ‘orcs’ attacks.
Kyiv then suffered one of.
The biggest aerial assaults.
Of the war.
Overnight on Saturday.
“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!”
Videos posted on social media.
Showed explosions.
Lighting up the sky.
Throughout the night.
And many Kyiv residents.
Reported blasts rocking the city.
As numerous civilian targets.
Were hit.
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!
‘Mordor’ employed dozens of.
Ballistic and cruise missiles.
And hundreds of drones.
To hit the capital.
As well as firing a hypersonic.
Nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile.
On the area of Bila Tserkva.
90km south of Kyiv.
“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?
Non-military targets.
Non-military targets.
Such as the Chernobyl Museum.
In Kyiv’s historic district.
And the National Art Museum.
Of Ukraine.
Were damaged.
Or destroyed.
A shopping centre, a market.
And several residential buildings.
In the area of Lukanivka.
Were also destroyed.
“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.
On Monday evening.
The ‘orc’ Foreign Minister urged.
The US Secretary of State.
To evacuate American diplomats.
To evacuate American diplomats.
From Kyiv.
In a phone call.
‘Orcs’ foreign ministry said.
“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!
After that phone call.
The US Secretary of State said.
Major strikes from either.
Ukraine or ‘Mordor’ are.
A “reminder of why.
This is a terrible war”.
And “it needs to come to.
An end.”
“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!”
He continued:
“The US stands.
Ready and prepared.
To help do whatever.”
“Ready and prepared.
To help do whatever.
We can to help facilitate.
The end of this war and.”
“Hopefully the opportunity.
Will present itself.
At some point.”
At some point.”
“’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.
Many are interpreting.
‘Mordor’’s warning.
For foreign nationals.
To leave Kyiv as.
A form of.
Psychological pressure.
A form of.
Psychological pressure.
“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!
‘Mordor’ already carries out.
Large-scale strikes.
On the capital.
And has done so.
Since it launched.
Its full-scale invasion.
Of Ukraine.
In 2022.
“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!
But four and a half years of war.
Have taught Ukraine to develop.
And ramp up a sophisticated.
And layered air defence system.
It now intercepts.
It now intercepts.
A vast proportion of.
Drones and missiles.
– although ‘Mordor’ often fires.
Them in such great numbers.
They overwhelmed air defences.
And many do get through.
“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!
Ukraine also remains.
Heavily dependent on.
Foreign air defence systems.
For missile interception.
In March.
‘Gandalf the Green’ warned.
That his country would face.
A deficit of such weapons.
Due to the US and.
Israel’s war with Iran.
Due to the US and.
Israel’s war with Iran.
“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 threatens more Kyiv strikes and tells foreign nationals to leave” by Ian Aikman & Laura Gozzi 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, 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 threatens more Kyiv strikes and tells foreign nationals to leave
