"A 17-year-old ‘elf’.
Who was moved.
From Ukraine to ‘Mordor’.
Found out recently.
He was facing the prospect.
Of being conscripted.
Into the army fighting against.
The country of his birth..."(Kurama)
"As he slowly began.
To regain consciousness.
In his hospital bed.
In Kyiv.
He realized.
He couldn't see, speak.
Or feel his legs.
But he could hear his wife’s voice..."(Kurama)
"It was in early September last year.
During Ukraine's grinding counter-offensive.
In the southern Kherson region.
That his war ended abruptly.
The soldier's tank drove.
Over a mine as it headed into combat.
When the 30-year-old regained consciousness.
He was surrounded by fire..."(Kurama)
““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’.”...”(Kurama)
“She has now.
Left her village.
Near the border.
With ‘Mordor’.
When ‘orcs’ planes began.
Bombing her border village.
In northern Ukraine.
She refused to leave...”(Kurama)
"Now can I talk about where I come from?
Now can I talk about where I come to?
Now can I talk about my homeland?
No, no, not yet, but I show you.
Now can I talk about my history?
No, no, not yet, but I show you..."(Kurama)
"For a moment of life,
For a moment of death,
A poet left already love for home.
For a moment of peace,
For a moment of fight,
A poet left already Lviv for Luhansk.
For a moment of smile,
For a moment of sigh,
A poet left already love for home."
(Kurama)
"Her face lights up as she recalls.
The moment of her liberation.
When the hated occupiers were forced from her village.
Novovoznesenske, in the southern region of Kherson.
She farmed there in peace and quiet.
Until ‘orcs’ arrived on 29 March.
What they did not destroy, they stole, she says.
Including forks and spoons, and the shoes
from a pensioner's feet..."(Kurama)
"Do you know what I asked?
Do you know what I believed?
Do you know what I counted?
Because a prisoner in Olenivka.
Do you know what I did?
Do you know what I earned?
Because a prisoner in Olenivka..."(Kurama)
"You heard the screams.
From far away.
They came floating.
Across the rows of the dead.
Across the rows of the dead.
Over other graves.
Still waiting.
To be filled...“(Kurama)
““None of us will allow.
Our Ukraine to end.”
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
In an address in the capital Kyiv.
He was joined by Western leaders.
In a show of solidarity.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
In his speech on Saturday that...”(Kurama)
“A volunteer who evacuates civilians.
Showed you a message.
From a resident.
A few days ago.
“The basement where people were.
Staying on Soborna Street.
Has been hit,” it says.
“A lot of people have died.”...”(Kurama)
"Today we celebrate the Day of.
Dignity and Freedom.
A holiday that shows that for us.
Dignity and freedom is a holiday.
The answer to the question of.
Who ‘elves’ are and.
What is most important to them.
Dear people!.."(Kurama)
“He has the sort of chuckle.
That's hard to resist.
Deep and treacly and mischievous.
“I'm still alive.”
He said, tilting his head.
To one side in his wheelchair.
Like a spectator marvelling at.
Someone else's magic trick...”(Kurama)
“Every night I was going berserk.
Knowing that my son was lying out.
There in the freezing cold and.
There was nothing to cover him.”(Kurama)
“Her only thought.
When her husband was wounded.
Was to get to.
His bedside.
“I just wanted.
To be with him.
To touch him.
To say that he's not alone.”...”(Kurama)
“As the anaesthetic began to wear off.
The ‘elf’ soldier.
Let out a low wail.
In the back of the ambulance.
Then fumbled with his oxygen mask.
And swore as he mumbled:
“Give me my rifle.”
A scrawny, mud-flecked 19-year-old...”(Kurama)
"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..."(Kurama)
"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..."(Kurama)
“Many ‘elves’ who remain.
Behind the ‘orcs’ front line.
In the occupied territories.
Are anxiously waiting for this counter-offensive.
“We're euphoric.
When Ukraine hits the occupied territories.”
A resident of Melitopol in the south says.
“It means that Ukraine has not forgotten us.”...”(Kurama)
