Archive List for AS A POET

“‘Orcs’ told me: ‘You can eat your passport. It doesn’t matter. This matters.’”   A filtration slip saying. He was fingerprinted at Manhush. A village about 20km west. Of Mariupol, on 13 May.     A 33-year-old says. Those who paid could go through the process faster. He had gone through filtration. When he lived […]

Like many ‘elves’. Trying to leave ‘orcs’-occupied areas. A 28-year-old marketing officer was forced. To go through a process called filtration.   He watched anxiously. As ‘orcs’ soldiers connected his mobile. To their computer. Trying to restore some files.   He was attempting to leave Mariupol. He had deleted everything. He thought an ‘orc’ soldier […]

Late one night in early April. An ‘elf’ military medic was travelling. Towards a combat position in Mariupol. With soldiers from her unit.   The fighting was close; the sound. Of gunfire and bombs came from every direction. One of them could have hit. Their vehicle at any moment.   It was freezing and pitch […]

“I want to shout to the whole world. To stop all this. To stop this bloody war. As soon as possible.”   “I want ‘orcs’ to know. How their husbands. Their sons, their parents. Are torturing ‘elves’.”   “How are we guilty? We are hardworking. Peaceful people. We don’t disturb anyone.”   “How do I […]

‘Elves’ military was more cautious. In declaring victory in Bilohorivka. Given that control over towns and villages. Has proved tenuous in the past.   But while only a small village. It would be a potent signal that. ‘Mordor’ no longer has full control. Of the Luhansk region.   Which along with Donetsk. Makes up Donbas. […]

A new ‘elves’ flag was flying atop. A captured ‘orcs’ T72 tank. Parked by the roadside. In the strategic town of Lyman.   Some ‘orcs’ fighters joke bitterly that. The “special military operation”. As ‘orcs’ government publicly terms. It “has no goals. It only has a path”.   Later the volunteers manoeuvred the remains. Into […]

Witnessing the visible trauma. In the village of Kreshchenivka. Is one of those moments. When this war feels utterly mindless.   The villages here are mostly destroyed. From both their occupation and recent liberation. Despite the eerie quiet and visible destruction. There is movement.     “Those ‘orcs’ said they were liberators. They just started […]

The 13 soldiers believed to have been killed. Defending Zmiinyi Island. On the first day of the ‘orcs’ invasion. Are alive.   The border guards were given posthumous honours. By ‘Gandalf the Green’ after they were heard. In audio recordings telling an ‘orcs’ warship. To “go to hell”.   ‘Mordor’ said at the time that. […]

How to be a good partisan. “Be grumpy,” is one suggestion. A faceless, hooded figure alongside a warning: “Kherson: The partisans see everything.”     At the mouth of the Dnipro River. On the Black Sea coast. Kherson found itself occupied. With barely a shot being fired.   Kherson became the first major ‘elves’ city. […]

As many as 700,000 men. May have left ‘Mordor’. Since ‘the One’ announced a mobilisation. Of at least 300,000 extra troops. On 21 September.   While most men have fled over land. To neighbouring Kazakhsta. Georgia and Finland. As well as other European countries. The arrivals in couples in Alaska mark a first.   Many […]