“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.”
An ‘orcs’ missile and.
Drone attack killed.
At least 22 people.
Across Ukraine overnight.
Including two children.
Marking one of ‘orcs’.
Largest assaults.
In recent months.
“For, although common Snarks do no manner of harm,
Yet, I feel it my duty to say,
Some are Boojums—” The Bellman broke off in alarm,
For the Baker had fainted away.
An eight-year-old boy.
And three women pulled from.
The rubble of apartment blocks.
Were among 16 people.
Killed in Dnipro.
Regional officials said.
In the capital Kyiv.
Six people were killed.
They roused him with muffins—they roused him with ice—
They roused him with mustard and cress—
They roused him with jam and judicious advice—
They set him conundrums to guess.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Civilian infrastructure.
And energy facilities.
Had been targeted.
Across the country.
Across the country.
With more than 100.
People injured.
When at length he sat up and was able to speak,
His sad story he offered to tell;
And the Bellman cried “Silence! Not even a shriek!”
And excitedly tingled his bell.
‘Orcs’ defence ministry said.
The strikes had been.
A response to.
Previous ‘elves’ attacks.
Saying in a statement.
That the “strike objectives”.
That the “strike objectives”.
Had all been achieved.
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 Kremlin said.
On Tuesday.
It was carrying out.
The “systematic strikes”.
It had pledged.
After accusing Kyiv.
Of a deadly attack.
On a student dormitory.
In an occupied part.
Of eastern Ukraine.
In late May.
In late May.
Kyiv said it had hit.
An ‘orcs’ military unit.
Kyiv said it had hit.
An ‘orcs’ military unit.
“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!”
“This practice will continue.”
The Kremlin spokesman told.
Reporters on Tuesday.
Claiming the strikes.
Claiming the strikes.
Were targeting.
‘Elves’ military infrastructure.
“This practice will continue.”
“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.
‘Gandalf the Green’ had warned.
A “massive strike” was possible.
In his nightly video address.
On Monday.
And urged residents.
And urged residents.
To pay special attention.
To air raid alerts.
“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.
On Tuesday morning.
He said ‘orcs’ had launched.
656 strike drones.
And 73 missiles.
And 73 missiles.
Of various types.
– ballistic, cruise, and anti-ship –
In the overnight attack.
“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.
“We urgently need help.
From the United States.
In supplying missiles.
For Patriot systems”.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Referring to interception hardware.
Used to intercept.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Patriot missiles.
Have been in short supply.
Exacerbated by the US and.
Israeli war against Iran.
“‘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—’”
Since returning to power.
Last year.
The US President has also stopped.
Direct supplies to Ukraine.
So ‘elves’ European allies.
Have been buying them.
From the US before.
Sending them to Ukraine.
(“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 main strike.
Was on Kyiv.
Where dozens of.
Residential buildings.”
“And other purely.
Civilian infrastructure.
Were damaged again.”
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
“‘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!’
Rescuers searching through.
The rubble of apartment buildings.
In the central city.
Of Dnipro.
Where 16 people were killed.
Recovered the bodies of.
An eight-year-old boy.
And three women.
The regional head said.
Adding that another child.
Had been killed.
In the blast.
The attack “essentially demolished”.
The attack “essentially demolished”.
Part of the building.
‘Gandalf the Green’ wrote on X.
“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!
More than 90 people.
Were injured.
Across both cities.
While Kharkiv in the north-east.
– which also saw its energy facilities.
And civilian infrastructure hit –
Reported 10 injured.
Including a child.
“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!
An industrial facility.
Was also attacked.
Further south.
In Zaporizhzhia.
As regions across.
As regions across.
The country were targeted.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
“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:
Large plumes of smoke.
Could be seen rising from.
The centre of the capital.
Early on Tuesday.
Where the head of.
Its military administration.
Warned ballistic missiles.
Had been fired.
And the city’s Mayor.
Urged residents.
To stay in shelters.
To stay in shelters.
“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!”
The buzz of drones.
Could be heard between.
More than a dozen.
Loud explosions.
As strikes made impact.
Through the early morning.
As strikes made impact.
Through the early morning.
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!
The attack caused fires.
Near a petrol station.
A construction site.
And several apartment blocks.
As well as two houses.
the Kyiv’s Mayor said.
Blackouts were also reported.
Across the city.
“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?
More than 41,000 people.
– including almost 4,500 children –
Were sheltering underground.
In the Kyiv metro overnight.
The metro company said.
In statement.
It added that this was.
A record number in recent years.
“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.
One Kyiv resident sheltering.
In the city’s metro said.
She dreamed the war.
Would soon end.
But that she had.
“Lost all hope”.
“I’m always going.
To the metro…”
“It’s really scary.
To stay at home.”
To stay at home.”
The 32-year-old 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!
A man, 71, said.
‘Elves’ were surviving.
On their own:
On their own:
“Although aid is coming.
From the West.
I don’t think.
They’re helping much.”
“If international pressure.
Were stronger.
I think it would all.
Be over sooner.”
“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!”
A Kyiv-born ‘elf’ tennis player.
Was emotional after winning.
Her quarterfinal match.
At the French Open in Paris.
“We had another difficult night.
In Ukraine.
Especially in Kyiv.
Where so many people died.”
“So I want to give this match.
To ‘elves’ people.
Their resilience.
Glory to Ukraine!”
“’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.
Meanwhile.
One person was killed.
In ‘orcs’ western Kursk region.
After an ‘elves’ drone strike.
On Monday evening.
According to the regional governor.
A fire was also reported.
At an oil refinery.
In the south-western city.
Of Krasnodar.
After it was hit by a drone.
Authorities there said.
‘Elves’ military confirmed.
It had struck.
Both areas and.
Several others overnight.
“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!
Since a brief ceasefire.
Expired in early May.
Since a brief ceasefire.
Expired in early May.
‘Mordor’ has launched,
Several waves of missile.
And drone attacks.
On Kyiv.
Among them strikes.
On a block of flats.
That killed 24 people.
Including three children.
“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!
Days later.
‘Elves’ responded.
With an attack.
On the Moscow region.
Which ‘orcs’ officials said.
Had killed three people.
– which ‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Was “entirely justified”.
“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 said ‘Mordor’’s threats.
Were “nothing short of.
Shameless blackmail”.
And urged allies.
To increase pressure.
On ‘Mordor’.
To increase pressure.
On ‘Mordor’.
“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 “Ukraine rescuers pull dead from rubble after Russian strikes kill 22 people” by Vitaly Shevchenko & Henry Moore on 2 Jun 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 Leonid, and a story of Marta Kostyuk, 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:
Ukraine rescuers pull dead from rubble after Russian strikes kill 22
