Author: Kurama

Long bursts of automatic gunfire. Rattled across. The grey, stubbled fields. On the front line.   Between Soledar and. The neighbouring town of Bakhmut. During an intense gun and. Artillery battle.   Closer to Bakhmut. Two ‘elves’ jets roared overhead. As artillery and tanks, hidden in the fields. Continued to pound ‘orcs’ positions.     […]

Against a backdrop. Of muffled booms. From the frontlines. To the south and east.   People sank to their knees. And threw roses. In front of the van. As it inched past them.   Then, as the back door opened. And a wooden coffin was. Pulled out. The sobbing began.     He died last […]

Remains of a damaged helicopter. Removed after this week’s crash. In Brovary in which. Three senior officials died.   A devastating missile strike. In Dnipro where 46 people died. Was followed by a helicopter crash. Near Kyiv, which killed 14.     The crash claimed the lives. Of three senior officials. Including Ukraine’s Interior Minister. […]

“I live on the seventh floor. The rocket hit the fifth floor. Early this morning, at around five. But I’m fine.”   A 73-year-old retired businessman. And the only remaining resident. Of a large apartment block. On the edge of town.   He bends over to share out. Some dried food to the eight cats. […]

He moved his elderly mother. To Dnipro last year. Believing it to be a safer place. To live during the war.   On Saturday 40 people. Were killed in the strike. He is a son in search of his mother. Who is still missing.     A bright, family kitchen in Ukraine. Was exposed to […]

As singing a word. As playing a character. My voice is streaming. How far in the world?   How far in the land? How far in the sea? How far in the air? How far in the war?   As singing a word. As playing a character. My voice is streaming. How far in the […]

At one police station. In recently liberated Kherson. Each cell tells. Its own story.   Some have clothes strewn everywhere. One has a burnt-out bed. Another has dog bowls. And rubbish strewn everywhere.   In one, an ‘orcs’ flag lies. In the centre of the floor. In cell number six is. Her story.     […]

The unidentified remains of some of. Those killed in Izyum are. Being kept in a container. In Kharkiv.   A pathologist leads the way through. The dimly lit corridors of his morgue. Past windows covered with sandbags. To a large white container in the back yard.   As soon as its heavy metal door. Is […]

After her turn. She pauses in the middle of the room. Hand over her mouth. Like she’s stifling a sob.   Her sister and nephew were killed. In an ‘orcs’ airstrike. On their block of flats. In early March.   They’d been sheltering. In the basement. Where they thought. They’d be safe.   She managed […]

A poet was detained. And interrogated. By ‘orcs’ forces in late March. Then released.   The next day. Witnesses saw two soldiers. Leading him away again. They say he shouted.   “Glory to Ukraine!” Then he was bundled. Into a car. With a Z on it.   When his skeleton was recovered. From the pine […]