On this video: The female unit gunning down Russian drones.
No.1
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS OF WITCHES
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
The Witches of Bucha.
As they call themselves are.
A volunteer air defence unit.
Made up almost entirely of women.
Now helping to protect.
‘Elves’ skies.
As more and more men are.
Sent to the frontlines.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
There are more drones.
To shoot down, too.
Often launched.
From ‘Mordor’.
In waves.
To overwhelm.
The main defences.
Ahead of a missile strike.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
The night-time shifts allow.
The women to combine their work.
Defending their country.
With day jobs.
As teachers, doctors.
- there’s even a manicurist.
Many say it’s a way.
Of overcoming.
The powerlessness.
They felt.
When ‘orcs’ forces.
Occupied Bucha region.
At the start of.
The full-scale invasion.
The horror stories.
Of those weeks.
– including of killing.
Torture and abduction –
Only began to emerge.
After ‘elves’ forces.
Freed the area.
At the end.
Of March.
2022.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
“I’m 51.
I weigh 100kg.
I can’t run.
I thought they’d send me packing.”
“But they took me on!”
She recalls.
A veterinarian.
Who signed up with.
The drone-busters.
This summer.
She talks about friends.
Deployed to the front.
And others who’ve died.
In the fighting.
As part of what brought.
Her to this role.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
“I can do this work.
The kit’s heavy.
But we women.
Can do it.”
She gets to demonstrate.
That a few hours later.
As an air alert is activated.
Across the region.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
Her unit scramble.
From their base.
In the woods.
And you follow.
Their pick-up truck.
Through the darkness.
As it bumps towards.
The middle of a field.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
The team of four.
Jump out to.
Begin mounting.
Their weapons.
The machine-guns are.
From another era:
Two Maxims made.
In 1939.
Ammunition boxes.
Stamped with.
Red stars from.
Soviet days.
The only man.
On the team.
Has to pour in bottled water.
By hand as a coolant.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
This is all.
That’s available:
‘Elves’ best kit is.
At the frontline.
And it is constantly asking.
Its allies for more.
But the ancient weapons.
Are impeccably maintained.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
And the Witches.
Say they’ve downed.
Three drones.
Since the summer.
“My role is.
To listen for them.”
She explains.
“It’s nervous work.”
“It’s nervous work.
But we have to stay focused.
To listen out.
For the slightest sound.”
Her friend is also.
In her early 50s.
And out on one of her.
First deployments.
“It’s scary, yes.
But so’s giving birth.
And I still did.
That three times.”
She laughs, saying her.
Own callsign is Cherry:
“Because of my car.
Not the tomatoes.”
A maths teacher.
She occasionally has to.
Rush back from the woods.
To take a class.
“I keep my clothes.
In the car.
My heels.
I put on some lipstick.”
“I teach the lesson.
Then it’s back in the car.
Quick change round the corner.
And I’m off.”
“The guys have gone.
But we’re here.
What can’t ‘elves’ women do?
We can do everything.”
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
Somewhere on.
The horizon is.
A beam of light.
From another group.
Scouring the skies.
For danger.
Over their own.
Patrol zone.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
There’s no public data.
On the total number.
Of volunteer units.
– or how many women are involved.
But as ‘orcs’ send drones.
Packed with explosives.
Almost every night.
They help form.
They help form.
An extra shield.
Around big towns.
And cities.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
From the Witches’ position.
In a field.
The third witch tracks.
Two drones on her tablet.
They’re over.
The neighbouring region.
So there's no imminent danger.
For Bucha.
But the machine guns.
But the machine guns.
Will stay in place.
Until the alert ends.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
The volunteers’ commander.
Is a big bear of.
A man just back.
From Pokrovsk.
In the eastern Donbas region.
Where the fighting is fiercest.
“There are fireworks.
Non-stop,” is how.
The man describes it there.
With a smile.
He used to have around.
200 men operating.
Mobile air defence units.
In the Bucha region.
And patrolling during.
The nightly curfew.
Many of them unfit.
For full military service.
Then Ukraine overhauled.
Its mobilisation law.
In urgent need.
Of more soldiers.
And many of the colonel’s crew.
Suddenly found themselves eligible.
For the frontline.
“About 90% of.
My men ended up.
In the army.”
“And another 10% hid.
Scattering like rats.
We were left.
With barely anyone.”
Col says bluntly.
“Just men with no legs.
Or half a skull missing.”
He had a choice:
To fill the roles with men.
Below mobilisation age.
Or recruit women.
“At first it was like a joke:”
“‘Let’s take women!’
There wasn’t much trust in them.
In the armed forces.
But that has really changed.”
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches comBuchae out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
The Witches spend.
Their weekends.
Undergoing a broader.
Military training.
On the day you visit.
It’s their first lesson.
On storming.
A building.
They practice in the ruins.
Of a farm outhouse.
Poking rifles round empty doorways.
Before edging warily past.
Some manage to look.
More convincing than others.
But the women’s commitment.
And focus is clear.
– because their reasons.
For doing this are.
Deep and personal.
Deep and personal.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
“I remember the occupation.
I remember the horror.
I remember the screams.
Of my own child.”
The first witch tells you.
Through small sighs.
“I remember the dead bodies.
When we were fleeing.”
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
Her family escaped Bucha.
Past burned out tanks.
Dead soldiers.
And civilians.
At one ‘orcs’ checkpoint.
She says a soldier.
Made them wind down.
The car window.
Then put a gun.
To her son’s head.
She is filled with.
Quiet fury.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
That’s also why she refuses.
To stop believing.
In ‘elves’ victory.
Despite the gloom.
That has settled over.
Much of her country.
After almost 1,000 days.
Of full-scale war.
“Life has changed.
All our plans.
Have been torn apart.
But I’m here.”
“To help speed up.
The end of this war.
As our girls here say.
It won’t end without us.”
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
Crunching over.
Broken glass and rubble.
In army boots.
Rifle in hand.
An office manager is.
Another volunteer Witch.
Now 52, she finds.
The military training empowering.
“Under occupation.
I felt the utter pointlessness.
Of my existence.
I could neither help anyone else.”
“Nor defend myself.
I wanted to learn.
How to use weapons.
So I could be some use.”
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
There’s a lot of backchat.
With the trainers:
The women are enjoying themselves.
But later that night.
At their base in the woods.
One of them opens up.
Even more and.
Shares a chilling story.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
When Bucha was taken over.
‘Orcs’ forces began going.
House to house.
They raped and they murdered.
Then one day.
A rumour spread that.
The occupiers were coming.
To kill the children.
“For the decision.
I took that day.
I will never forgive the ‘orcs’.”
This woman confides.
You won’t share.
The details of.
What she told you.
– the extreme decision she took –
Only that the soldiers.
Never came and.
She never had to.
Act on it.
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
But this woman.
Has been haunted by.
That moment ever since.
And by guilt.
The first time she felt relief.
Was when she began.
Learning to defend herself.
Her family and her country.
“Coming here really helped.”
She says quietly.
“Because I won’t ever sit.
Like a victim again.”
“Because I won’t ever sit.
Like a victim again.
And be so very afraid.”
“Coming here really helped.”
It’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The witches come out.
The witches come out.
Because it’s when dark falls.
Over Bucha that.
The ‘orcs’ attack drones.
Start swarming.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine war: Meet Bucha's female unit who gun down Russian drones
On this video: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control.
No.2
Kurama
(Japan)
A POET TAKEN
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Her friends and colleagues.
Say they won’t rest.
Until they’ve investigated.
What happened.
“Her life was her work.”
A former editor says.
“It's a rare type of people.
Who are so determined.”
“I'm pretty sure the way.
She would want us.
To remember her is.
Not to stand here and cry.”
“But to remember.
Her dignity.
And I think.
What’s important.”
“For us journalists.
Is to find out.
What she was working on.
– and to finish her story.”
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
She disappeared.
In August 2023.
In a part of Ukraine now.
Occupied by ‘orcs’ forces.
It took nine months.
For ‘orcs’ authorities.
To confirm the journalist.
Had been detained.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
This week.
Her father got.
A terse letter from.
The defence ministry in Moscow.
Informing him.
That she was dead.
Aged 27.
They gave no reason.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
The document said.
The journalist’s body.
Would be returned.
In one of the swaps.
Organised by ‘Mordor’.
And Ukraine.
For soldiers killed.
On the battlefield.
The death date.
Was given as.
19 September.
Again, there was no explanation.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
This weekend.
Friends gathered to.
Remember her.
On the Maidan in central Kyiv.
They shuffled.
Into position.
On the steps.
Holding her photograph.
Young face smiling out.
At the small crowd.
“She had huge courage.”
One woman began the tributes.
“We will miss her enormously.”
Said another.
T urning away as.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Her stories were.
Snapshots of life.
That ‘elves' were not getting.
From anywhere else.
Reporting from.
Occupied areas.
Of Ukraine was.
Extremely dangerous.
But her colleagues remember.
How she was desperate.
To go there.
Even after she was detained.
Even after she was detained.
And held in custody.
The first time.
For ten days.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
She was working.
In occupied areas.
In the east.
Of the country.
When she was.
Taken by.
Unidentified men.
On 15 March 2022.
Then her employer said.
She “was probably.
Detained by the FSB”.
‘Mordor’’s internal intelligence service.
Based on witness.
Accounts of her.
Being taken in.
The city of Berdyansk.
She was released.
Six days later.
When a hostage-style video.
- apparently recorded under duress –
Began to circulate on.
Pro-‘orcs’ Telegram outlets.
In it she said ‘Mordor’.
Had not taken her captive.
And thanked ‘orcs’ forces.
For “saving her life”.
She was released.
Six days later.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
“Her parents used to.
Call and tell us.
To stop deploying her.
But we never did deploy her!”
One of her former.
Bosses recalled.
“All her editors.
Tried to stop her.”
“But it was impossible.”
The young reporter.
Eventually went freelance.
In order to.
Deploy herself and.
When she got back.
Newspapers would buy.
Her reports.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Most strikingly.
She never used.
A pseudonym.
Even though she wrote.
Openly of “occupied” territory.
And referred to those.
Who collaborated with.
The ‘orcs’ as “traitors”.
“She wanted to provide.
Information about.
How those cities live under.
Siege by the ‘orcs’ army.”
“How those cities live under.
Siege by the ‘orcs’ army.”
An editor-in-chief said.
“She was absolutely amazing.”
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Her father has previously.
Described how she set out.
Via Poland and ‘Mordor’.
Last July.
Heading for occupied Ukraine.
It was a week before.
She called to say.
She’d been interrogated.
At the border.
For several days.
All we know for sure.
After that, is that.
By May she was.
In Detention Centre No. 2.
In Taganrog, southern ‘Mordor’.
– a facility so notorious.
For the brutal treatment.
Of many ‘elves’.
That some dub it.
The “‘Moror’’s Guantanamo”.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Another ‘elf’ citizen.
Who was released.
From Taganrog last month.
Has told her family.
She saw the journalist.
On 8 or 9 September.
Then, there was.
Cause for hope.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
“I was 100% sure.
She’d be back.
On 13 September.
This year.”
“My sources gave me.
100% guarantees.”
The editor-in-chief says.
She had been told.
The journalist would.
Be included in.
One of the periodic.
Prisoner-of-war swaps.
That Ukraine and ‘Mordor’.
Carry out.
Planned for.
The middle of last month.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
She was moved.
With another ‘elf’ woman.
But neither were included.
In the prisoner exchange.
“That means she was.
Taken somewhere else.”
Says a director.
“They say to Lefortovo.”
“Why there?
We don’t know.”
She says it’s not normal practice.
Ahead of a swap.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Lefortovo prison in Moscow.
Is run by.
The FSB security service.
And used for those.
Accused of espionage.
And serious crimes.
Against the state.
“Maybe they took her.”
“Maybe they took her.
There to start some kind of.
Court proceeding.
Or investigation.”
“That’s happened to.
Other civilians taken from.
Kherson and Melitopol.”
The director says.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
At some point.
She had called.
A hunger strike.
But that day.
On 30 August.
Her father urged her.
To start eating again.
And she agreed.
“That needs investigating.
It also means we’d be.
Blaming her partially.
And not the ‘orcs’ Federation.”
“And not the ‘orcs’ Federation.
As we should.”
The director cautions.
“That needs investigating.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
‘Elves’ intelligence service.
Has confirmed her death.
And the General Prosecutor’s office.
Has changed its criminal case.
From illegal detention.
To murder.
In ‘Mordor’.
She was never charged.
With any crime and.
The circumstances of.
Her detention.
Are not known.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
“A civilian journalist.
… captured by ‘Mordor’.
Then ‘Mordor’ sends a letter.
That she died?”
An ‘elf’ MP said in Kyiv.
“It's killing.
Just the killing of hostages.
I don't know other word.”
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
‘Mordor’ hasn't commented.
Since the start of ‘orcs’.
Full-scale invasion.
Huge numbers of civilians.
Have been taken.
From areas of Ukraine.
That ‘Mordor’ has overrun.
And now controls.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Like her family.
Desperate relatives.
Are left with little.
Or no information.
On their whereabouts.
Or wellbeing.
And no idea whether.
They’ll ever get home.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
So far, one journal.
Has collated.
A list of.
1,886 names.
"There’s all sorts of people.
Including ex-soldiers.
And police officers.
And local officials like mayors.”
The director says.
“And of course.
There may be many more.
We don’t know about.”
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Neither lawyers nor.
The Red Cross get access.
And even if someone’s location.
Can be confirmed.
Getting them back home.
Is almost impossible:
Civilians are.
Rarely swapped.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Her death had come.
As a heavy blow.
“For all of us in Ukraine.”
“The issue of captured.
And deported people.
Remains incredibly painful.
These are adults and children.”
“Many civilians.
Who are now held.
In prisons and camps.
In ‘Mordor’.”
He met Pope.
At the Vatican on Friday.
Before heading to Berlin for.
Talks with German Chancellor.
He said returning ‘elves’.
From captivity was.
The main focus of.
His talks with Pope.
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Her friends and colleagues.
Say they won’t rest.
Until they’ve investigated.
What happened.
“Her life was her work.”
A former editor says.
“It's a rare type of people.
Who are so determined.”
“I'm pretty sure the way.
She would want us.
To remember her is.
Not to stand here and cry.
But to remember.
Her dignity.
And I think.
What’s important.
For us journalists.
Is to find out.
What she was working on.
– and to finish her story.”
“So what happened?
With her in prison?
Why didn’t she?
Come home?”
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Viktoriia Roshchyna: Ukrainian journalist who chronicled Russian occupation dies in prison (bbc.com)
Ukraine War: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control
No.3
Kurama
(Japan)
A POET ACCUSING
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
‘Orcs’ capture, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
A journalist in.
The occupied city.
Of Melitopol.
Accused ‘orcs’ forces.
Of taking her.
75-year old father.
Hostage as punishment.
For her refusal.
To co-operate with.
The new administration.
She, the director of.
Local news agency.
Wrote on Facebook.
That her father.
Had been detained.
After her meeting.
With the puppet-leader.
Of the city.
Where she refused to end.
Her criticism of the invasion.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
‘Orcs’ capture, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
she received a phone call.
From his captors.
In which her father informed.
Her that he was being held.
“In some basement”.
And she said that.
He “didn't know.
What they wanted from him”.
His captors demanded.
That she, who has pledged.
To “tell the world.
Of atrocities”.
Committed by.
‘Orcs’ forces.
In Melitopol.
Surrender herself.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
‘Orcs’ capture, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
‘Elves’ National Union.
Of Journalists said.
Four journalists had also.
Been detained.
Including a retired local.
Newspaper publisher.
And were later.
Released in Melitopol.
The head of the ‘elves’ NUJ.
Said the detentions were.
Part of “a wave of.
Information cleansing”.
Which is aimed towards.
The “intimidation.
Of journalists.
And public figures”.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
‘Orcs’ capture, but he’ll be back to.
‘Orcs’ capture the land.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine War: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control
No.4
Kurama
(Japan)
A POET ABDUCTED
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Orcs’ torture, but he’s back to.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
In the southern city.
Of Melitopol.
Mayor was abducted.
From a city crisis centre.
By ‘orcs’ troops.
Earlier this month.
Discussing his detention.
With local media.
He alleged that other detainees.
At the holding centre.
He was taken to.
Were being tortured.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Orcs’ torture, but he’s back to.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
“They didn't touch me.
Physically but trust me.
Seven armed men.
Were enough to make.”
“Their position clear.
In the next cell.
Someone was being tortured.
- there were screams.”
“Which generated plenty of.
Psychological pressure.
They try to accuse them.
Of sabotage.”
“And squeeze their fingers.
In the door.
To make them say.
Which army they're from.”
“But they're just.
Local residents.”
“But they're just.
Local residents.”
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Orcs’ torture, but he’s back to.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Elves’ are being arbitrarily.
Detained and subjected.
To enforced disappearances.
In ‘orcs’-controlled areas.
At least 36 cases.
Of civilian detentions.
Were verified.
By the UN.
With families often.
Denied any information.
About the fate of.
Those being held.
‘Elves’ fear.
An escalating campaign.
Of kidnappings.
And intimidation.
As ‘Mordor’ struggles.
To assert control.
Over towns.
It captures.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Orcs’ torture, but he’s back to.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
In February.
US officials sent.
A letter to the UN.
Warning that.
‘Mordor’ had drawn up.
A “kill list” of ‘elves’.
To be attacked or detained.
Following the invasion of the country.
Some sources have suggested.
That a hack of an ‘elves’.
Digital services app.
In January may have helped.
‘Orcs’ identify targets.
While it has been speculated.
That a hack of the ‘elves’.
National car insurance registry.
May have allowed.
Security services.
To identify the locations.
Of targets.
A number of officials in.
Occupied parts of Ukraine.
Have been detained by.
‘Orcs’ forces in recent weeks.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Orcs’ torture, but he’s back to.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
Alleged abductions.
Have occurred.
In several other cities.
Including Nova Kakhovka.
In the north.
Where the secretary of.
The city council.
Has disappeared.
And in Bucha.
Where the local council said.
That six employees.
Were detained.
That six employees.
Were detained.
And later released.
After an ‘orcs’ raid.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
‘Orcs’ torture, but he’s back to.
‘Orcs’ torture the land.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine War: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control
No.5
Kurama
(Japan)
A POET WARNED
A pro-Western MP.
Was warned by.
The ‘elves’ security services.
That she was likely on.
An ‘orcs’ hit-list.
And was warned to.
Avoid her apartment.
In Kyiv.
“Pretty much there are.
Two lists.
A list of people.
To be killed.”
“As members of parliament.
They are mostly people.
Who ‘orcs’ feel.
They cannot co-operate with.”
“And a list of people.
To be taken hostage.
And taken to Moscow and.
Forced to vote on something.”
“I also have sanctions.
Against me in ‘Mordor’.
So I presume I am on.
The list to be killed or captured.”
A pro-Western MP.
Was warned by.
The ‘elves’ security services.
That she was likely on.
An ‘orcs’ hit-list.
And was warned to.
Avoid her apartment.
In Kyiv.
She believed.
The detentions were.
Likely to increase.
As ‘Mordor’ faces.
As ‘Mordor’ faces.
A lack of co-operation.
And increased resistance.
In occupied regions.
“I'm sure ‘the One’.
Thought it will be.
Just as it was.
In Crimea.”
“They come they take over.
The administrative buildings.
And the mayor will say.
‘Let’s co-operate.”
“I will be your mayor now.
What difference does it make’.
It didn't happen.
At all here...”
“Nobody, even from sort of.
Pro-‘orcs’ parties agreed to.
Do what ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Wanted them to do”.
A pro-Western MP.
Was warned by.
The ‘elves’ security services.
That she was likely on.
An ‘orcs’ hit-list.
And was warned to.
Avoid her apartment.
In Kyiv.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine War: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control
No.6
Kurama
(Japan)
A POET UNDER A WAVE
The abductions have not.
Been limited to.
Public figures.
With some civilians.
With some civilians.
And ex-members of.
The armed forces.
Also detained.
An ‘elf’ political analyst.
Said that his uncle.
A former medic.
With the ‘elves’ army.
A former medic.
With the ‘elves’ army.
Who fought in the Donbas.
From 2016-2018.
Had been targeted.
By ‘orcs’ soldiers.
In the eastern city.
Of Svatove.
“Security forces of.
The ‘orcs’ Federation.
Have come to his house.
And searched for him.”
“Luckily he was.
Not at his house.
But neighbours confirmed.
That he is wanted.”
The abductions have not.
Been limited to.
Public figures.
With some civilians.
With some civilians.
And ex-members of.
The armed forces.
Also detained.
He said it was unclear.
Which element of ‘orcs’ forces.
Are behind the wave.
Of detentions.
But in his uncle's case.
He said the troops were.
“A mix of army personnel.
And some other security forces.”
“We can only.
Speculate whether.
It's FSB.
They didn't wear insignia”.
The abductions have not.
Been limited to.
Public figures.
With some civilians.
With some civilians.
And ex-members of.
The armed forces.
Also detained.
He fears that.
The campaign of arrests.
Will escalate.
In the coming days.
He observed that.
In southern areas.
Such as Kherson.
So far the “amount of arrests.”
“Seem relatively low”.
And some of the lists.
Appear to be.
“Drawn up on the go”.
As ‘orcs' forces.
Identify those.
Resisting occupation.
“Locals fear.”
“Locals fear.
We are seeing.
The beginning of.
A more sustained campaign.”
The abductions have not.
Been limited to.
Public figures.
With some civilians.
With some civilians.
And ex-members of.
The armed forces.
Also detained.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine War: Civilians abducted as Russia tries to assert control
No.7
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS IN A LITTLE OVER A WEEK
When the ‘orcs’ retreated.
From Bucha.
A massive operation began.
To find and document the dead.
Police Chief was.
Sitting at a child's desk.
In an abandoned school.
In Bucha.
Collecting the details.
Of the bodies.
He has broad shoulders.
And short dark hair.
And rarely uses.
An unnecessary word.
Every few minutes.
Chief received a call.
Chief received a call.
On his mobile phone.
And the brief conversations.
Went the same:
A location.
A few details.
A phone number of.
A relative or friend.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Before the ‘orcs’ came.
He was an ordinary.
Local police chief.
The head of Buchanksy District 1.
Who spent his days.
Dealing with ordinary.
Local crime and.
The occasional murder.
Since the liberation.
Of Bucha.
He has spent his days in.
This abandoned school classroom.
Where school posters.
Still hang on the walls.
Coordinating the massive.
Operation to find the dead.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
The area was occupied.
By ‘orcs’ forces.
For a month as they.
Attempted to assault Kyiv.
And its liberation.
A little over a week ago.
Has begun a slow and painful.
Process of uncovering horrors.
Each time the phone rang.
Chief consulted the map.
In front of him.
And on a plain piece of paper.
He wrote down.
The necessary information.
In neat handwriting.
One line per body.
By mid-morning.
He had filled.
One side of A4 and.
Moved on to the reverse.
The previous day.
There had been.
64 bodies.
The day before, 37.
He did not know.
How many there would.
Be that day.
But he was expecting.
The number to jump.
By around 40.
Because a mass grave.
Was being dug up nearby.
He is only in charge of.
One part of this region and.
Many more bodies are being.
Found outside his jurisdiction.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
He paused occasionally.
To go to the school playground.
For a cigarette.
But even these moments.
Were interrupted by.
Calls about bodies or.
Problems relating to.
The collection of bodies.
It was raining.
In Bucha.
And one of the vans.
That ferried corpses.
To the morgue.
Had become stuck.
In the mud.
A tractor needed to.
Be found quickly.
Because there was.
A limited number of vans.
And a large number of bodies.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
He generally delegates.
The field work.
To his deputies.
But in cases of.
Particularly grave crimes.
He goes himself.
“When people have been.
Shot in the head.”
“With their hands tied.
Behind their back.
For example.
I will go.”
“When the bodies have been.
burned I also go.”
About mid-morning.
A call came in.
From a 24-year-old.
Police deputy.
In one of his units.
To log a body.
That had been reported.
Behind an apartment building.
On the outskirts.
Of Bucha.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
When the police arrived.
At the building.
Which stood alone.
On an otherwise undeveloped.
Green area on the edge.
Of woodland.
He found two men.
Behind the building.
Behind the building.
At the place.
Where the property line.
Met the woods.
They were wearing.
Blue surgical gloves.
And standing over.
The partially decomposed body.
Of a man.
Who appeared to.
Have been shot.
In the back of the head.
The body lay on.
A stained white duvet.
Decorated with red flowers.
And was surrounded.
By empty bottles.
Of beer and spirits.
The blue surgical gloves.
Initially gave the men.
The appearance of.
Medical officials.
But they introduced themselves.
As the dead man's father and brother.
Lying on the blanket.
Was a 30-year-old former cook.
Who, until the ‘orcs' arrived.
Lived a peaceful life.
With his girlfriend.
On the sixth floor of.
The apartment building that.
Now towered over his corpse.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Father and brother.
Had lost contact.
With him a month earlier.
When the ‘orcs’ seized.
Control of Bucha.
And communications went down.
It was impossible.
To enter the suburb.
To check his building.
So they searched for him.
For a month online.
Scouring social media.
In vain for evidence.
That he was alive.
In vain for evidence.
That he was alive.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
When the ‘orcs’ finally retreated.
A little over a week ago.
Brother got a call.
From the man’s girlfriend.
And she told.
Them the story.
The ‘orcs’ had assaulted.
The apartment building.
And blasted their way.
Into every apartment.
With a shotgun.
Demanding people.
Handed over their.
SIM cards and keys.
They interrogated.
Her and him.
In separate rooms.
Beat them, and.
Shot their dog.
She said.
Then they took her down.
To the basement.
With a group of.
Other residents.
And bolted the door.
But took him away.
Separately and told her.
She wouldn't see him again.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
And she didn't.
As soon as the ‘elves’ army.
Declared Bucha.
Safe to re-enter.
Father and brother set out.
For the apartment building.
Inside, they found blood.
Smeared on the floor.
In the stairwells.
And personal photographs.
From people's apartments.
Strewn around.
On every door.
You could see the holes.
From the shotgun blasts.
- sometimes one.
You could see the holes.
- sometimes four or five.
Doors with steel plates.
Had been crowbarred.
On one wooden door.
Where the lock hadn't.
Given way to.
Repeated shots.
The ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Appeared to have.
Become frustrated.
And blown a hole.
Right through the middle.
Of the door.
Into the apartment.
Behind another door.
It was clear.
The homeowners had.
Pushed a heavy table.
Up against the frame.
In a failed attempt.
To keep the invaders out.
In a failed attempt.
To keep the invaders out.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
When Father and brother.
Reached the sixth floor.
They saw that the shotgun.
Had been used.
On the door of.
Apartment 83.
A rank odour.
Came from inside.
The ‘orcs’ had trashed.
The apartment and.
Pried open the air vents.
And even the bathroom drain.
Looking for money.
Brother guessed.
When brother entered.
His bedroom.
Brother suffered.
The first of several blows.
To his hopes of.
Finding the man alive.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
On the pillow.
There was a deep blood stain.
And blood was sprayed up.
The walls behind the bed.
Among the mess on the floor.
There were two.
7.62mm.
Bullet casings.
— the calibre used by.
The ‘orcs’ army.
In their rifles.
“You could see that.”
“You could see that.
A man had been killed here.”
Brother said.
“But there was no body.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
So father and brother.
Began to search for him.
Knowing that their search was.
Now probably for a body.
And not a son and brother.
They could hold again.
In their arms.
Brother was carrying.
A passport photograph of him.
“We searched and searched.
And at first we were.
Looking for his face.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Behind the building.
Next to the woods.
They found what appeared.
To be a shallow grave.
And they began to dig.
It took time to exhume.
The remains there.
First they saw.
A flower-patterned duvet.
They didn't recognise and.
Their hearts found some hope.
But when they brought.
The body up they saw.
That inside the duvet.
There was a curtain.
From the man’s apartment.
Then they saw.
The dead man's shoes.
And thought.
They recognised them.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
The light was fading.
By that point.
And they had to be home.
Before curfew.
So they covered the body.
With the sheet.
Embers of hope remained.
“Today was the final touch.”
Brother said.
The following day.
Looking down at the body.
“Today we took.”
“His shoes off.
And we saw his feet.”
Because his feet had been.
Inside socks and shoes.
They were better preserved.
Than the rest of his body.
After a month.
In the earth.
“We saw the shape of his feet.”
Father said.
“Then we looked at.
The shape of the nose.”
“And the hands.”
Brother said.
“And we knew it was.
Our bloodline.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Father had purchased.
The small apartment in Bucha.
Two years earlier.
- an investment in his son's future.
He had been a cook.
In a restaurant in Kyiv.
Until the pandemic hit.
And he was laid off.
He did some work.
In construction and.
Was looking for something.
More stable.
But he had a girlfriend.
He loved and a dog.
And now an apartment.
In a nice neighbourhood.
He loved to fish and hunt.
And forage for mushrooms.
In his spare time.
And cook.
“He was living.
A peaceful life here.”
Brother said.
“He was a normal guy.”
“He was a normal guy.
That's all.
A kind-hearted man.
He gave his all.”
“He was a son.
And a brother.”
Father said, trying to.
Hold back his tears.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
At the front of.
The apartment building.
The officer was filling out.
His police report.
Father went to his car.
And took two small pieces.
Of cardboard and.
Wrote his name and.
Wrote his name and.
Phone number and.
The man’s name and.
Address on each.
Then he asked some neighbours.
For clear tape.
To cover the ink.
Because the rain was.
Beginning to fall.
Harder on Bucha.
And he went back to the body.
Without surgical gloves.
This time to tie.
One piece of card.
To the man’s ankle.
And one to his wrist.
“I do not want to lose.
My son,” father said.
The officer finished.
His report.
And called it in.
Chief would arrange.
For the van that collected.
The bodies to stop by.
Father and brother.
Took shelter from the rain.
And waited for.
The van to arrive.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
As the day wore on.
Chief's classroom command post.
Got busier.
Officers came and went.
Filing crime scene reports.
The list on his desk.
Got longer and.
His phone kept ringing.
A dead woman had been.
Found in a well.
Next to a destroyed column.
Of ‘orcs’ tanks.
There was a body.
There was a body.
On the ninth floor of.
An apartment building.
A driver of one of.
The vans called to say.
He couldn't find the body.
He had been sent to collect.
A woman came in.
To the classroom.
In person to report that.
Her neighbour was dead.
“I understand everything.”
Chief told her.
Keen to move on.
“We will try to collect him today.”
Chief’s father called.
“Dad, I am too busy.
Everything is OK.”
“Everything is OK.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Two of Bucha district's.
Police departments.
Had been destroyed.
In the ‘orcs’ assault.
And Chief was struggling.
For resources.
There were not.
Enough body bags.
His team had also.
Been whittled down.
Over the preceding days.
To those who had shown themselves.
Capable of withstanding.
This new work.
“Those who were weak.
Went at the very beginning.”
There was little room.
For sentiment.
Amid the scale.
Of the task.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Chief received.
Another call.
“Nine?” he said.
“Where?”
The call was coming.
From a unit.
In a neighbouring.
Police department.
Nine bodies were buried.
In a field nearby.
Chief hung up and dialled.
One of his mobile units.
“The team there is exhausted.
And they have no.
Body bags left.
They have been collecting bodies all day.”
“Please go and help them now.
Find body bags.
And help them.
To pack the bodies.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
The nine graves.
Were laid out neatly.
In a row at the edge.
Of the field.
Behind a corrugated fence.
At the end of.
A dirt track.
The dead had been buried.
The dead had been buried.
By their neighbours.
During the ‘orcs’ occupation.
And now they were.
And now they were.
Being exhumed.
By their neighbours.
With the help of the police.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
“Some of these people died.
Because they could not.
Get medicine and.
Some were killed by ‘orcs’.”
Said a 45-year-old ‘elf’.
From one of the buildings.
By the field.
Who had helped.
To bury the bodies.
And was doing.
The most work now.
To bring them up.
“These were our neighbours.”
He said, a look.
Of deep anger.
Set in his face.
“Here is a man from.
The building next door.
And a neighbour.
Of his.”
“Here is another person.
I knew from the next building.
This man has.
A bullet wound.”
“We didn't know him.
But we found a passport.
On his body.
This elderly woman.”
“This elderly woman.
Had severe diabetes and.
We tried to take her.
Out of Bucha but.”
“There was no green corridor.
So she died.
This man went for.
A walk with his dog.”
“And didn't come back.
We are not pathologists.
But it looks like.
He was shot.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
The work to remove.
The bodies was hard.
They had been buried.
Well in deep graves.
And the rain was soaking.
Into the mud.
And making it slippery.
The 45-year-old.
In a green plastic rain cape.
Climbed into each grave.
One after the other.
And shovelled the earth.
From around the bodies.
So that thick straps.
Could be tied around them.
To hoist them up.
Each body had been wrapped.
In whatever was at hand.
- curtains, blankets of.
Different colours and patterns.
They were examined.
By the police and.
Any obvious wounds.
Photographed with an iPhone.
Enough body bags.
Had been found.
And after a while.
The van arrived.
In the dirt on its back doors.
Someone had scrawled '200'.
- the military identifier for.
The transport of the dead.
The bodies were.
Loaded inside.
The sky was grey.
And the rain kept falling.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
At the man’s apartment building.
Father and brother had waited.
As long as they could.
For the van to arrive.
It was getting dark.
And they needed to get home.
The man's body would have to spend.
Another night on the ground.
They were too late.
Now to make.
The 9pm curfew.
In Kyiv.
But at the military checkpoints.
Along the route they showed.
The death report and.
Were waved through.
At sunrise the next morning.
Father and brother got up.
And began the drive.
Back to Bucha.
They could not wait.
For the van any longer.
And they loaded.
The man's body.
Into the back of their car.
And set out for a morgue.
In the town of Boyarka.
About an hour's drive south.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Before the invasion.
The staff at the Boyarka morgue.
Were used to handling.
About three bodies a day.
The vast majority of them.
Deaths from natural causes.
Since Bucha was liberated.
They have been autopsying.
About 50 bodies a day.
80% of which.
Were violent deaths.
Said a man, 39.
Who has been.
The forensic expert.
There for 16 years.
The morgue.
A small outbuilding.
At the back of a hospital.
On the edge of town.
Where Boyarka meets the forest.
Had just acquired.
Two rented refrigerator trucks.
And both were.
Full of bodies.
Body bags lay on the floor.
By the trucks and against.
The fence nearby and either side.
Of the entrance to the morgue.
“There are not enough staff.
And there is not enough room.”
Said the forensic expert.
“Even if we had more people.”
“Where would we?
Put the bodies?”
Normally he would do.
A careful autopsy.
On every body.
And print a death certificate.
“Now we just dissect them quickly.
And write something simple by hand.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Father and brother were not alone.
In bringing a body themselves.
Private cars pulled up.
To the morgue.
And bodies were brought out.
Wrapped in blankets and rugs.
Relatives and friends.
Came searching.
A woman was looking for.
The body of the father.
Of a friend.
Who was abroad.
“He had his passport.
On his chest.”
She told the staff.
A man came for.
His father-in-law who.
When the ‘orcs’ cut the gas supply.
In the depth of winter.
Rigged up a makeshift heater.
Using a gas cylinder.
But fell asleep.
And was poisoned.
When the flame went out.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Father and brother waited.
Outside until.
They were called in.
To identify the man.
They stood inside.
The cramped, low-ceilinged morgue.
Where there were bodies.
On the floor.
Where there were bodies.
On the floor.
And on every gurney.
And the smell was overpowering.
They had to squeeze.
Between two gurneys.
Beside an open corpse.
To get close to.
The man's body.
And they searched it.
For scars.
They could remember.
They repeated.
To the pathologist.
That they thought.
They recognised his feet.
Father looked away.
And looked back.
He was wrestling.
With doubt and hope.
Afterwards, he walked.
Behind the refrigerator truck.
And stood alone sobbing.
His chest heaving with his tears.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
The man was brought out.
His body bag tagged.
Number 552.
- the 552nd body processed.
By this small morgue.
Since the beginning of the year.
Nearly double the figure.
In a normal year.
The extra hundreds all.
Condensed into one week.
The police took fingerprints.
And told Father and brother.
That the formal identification.
Would take around a month.
Because of the backlog.
But otherwise.
They were free.
To take him.
To the cemetery.
To be buried.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Rather than wait.
For the body van.
Father and brother lifted.
The man carefully again.
Into the back of their car.
And drove him.
The hour or so.
Back to Bucha.
Past the rows of destroyed.
Homes and places where.
Bodies had laid.
In the streets for weeks.
At the cemetery.
Which was already full.
New graves were being dug.
Outside the boundary fence.
On a thin strip of earth.
Along the side of the road.
A priest intoned.
The funeral rites over a coffin.
The mother of the dead man wailed.
In the near distance.
Past the line of the forest.
Enormous booms sounded.
As unexploded ordnance.
Was detonated.
Father and brother drove.
Into the cemetery.
And unloaded the man.
Next to a long line.
Of body bags arrayed.
On the ground.
Because the man had already.
Been identified and.
Would be buried here.
In Bucha.
He was placed into.
A simple wooden casket with.
Maroon fabric and afforded.
The small dignity of resting.
Inside a brick building.
On the cemetery grounds.
He would be buried.
In two days' time.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Father and brother.
Left the cemetery and.
Father decided that.
He would buy a plot there.
Even though it was far from.
Their home in Kyiv.
He would buy a plot there.
For his wife, the man’s mother.
Who was suffering.
From end-stage cancer.
So that when the time came.
She would be near to her son.
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Two days later.
On a bright, cold morning.
In Bucha, the family.
Gathered at the cemetery.
Once again, father and brother.
Took the lead and.
Went inside the brick building.
To prepare to carry the casket.
Mother sat outside.
On a bench.
Smoking a cigarette.
Alone among the body bags.
The casket was carried.
To a stone plinth and.
The family gathered around it.
While the priest read the funeral rites.
And two elderly women.
From the church held.
The incense burner.
And sang.
Then the man was taken.
By the van marked 200.
To one of the fresh graves.
Along the roadside.
Outside the cemetery.
And laid to rest.
Father was still wrestling.
With doubt.
“I am still hoping.
That the fingerprints will.
Show this was.
Not my son.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
Later that day.
Back at the abandoned school.
In Bucha, Chief was.
Sitting at his schooldesk.
Listening carefully.
To a man who had come.
In person to ask for.
Help finding a relative.
He had heard was.
In a mass grave.
The man had been to.
The large mass grave.
The large mass grave.
By the church, he said.
But they redirected.
Him to the police.
He wanted to give Chief a picture.
But Chief explained that.
This was not the way.
Things were done.
“We cannot go around.
Opening all the body bags.
Holding this picture.
Do you understand?”
“It will waste too much time."
Chief explained that.
They had to begin burying.
The unidentified bodies.
Because there was not.
Enough space at the morgues.
But Chief assured.
The man that.
Fingerprints and.
Photographs were.
Being taken and.
Would be kept.
“Even though the people.
Themselves are buried.
The information remains.
The photographs remain.”
In front of him.
On the school desk.
There was a map.
Of Bucha.
A once peaceful and.
Little-known suburb.
Of Kyiv that is now.
A sprawling crime scene.
The calls kept coming in.
- a body on Yablunska Street.
Another body.
Next to a school.
“We have cleared these.
Two addresses already.
Give us more to collect.”
He saw a window.
For a cigarette and.
Went to the playground.
The number of bodies.
Each day was already.
Beginning to fall.
And he thought.
The job might be.
Finished soon.
“There are no weekends here now.
We will keep working.
Until the collection of.
The bodies is complete.”
He flicked his cigarette away.
His phone was ringing.
The job might be.
Finished soon.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
No.8
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS PROTESTING
In the southern ‘elves’ city.
Of Melitopol.
On Monday.
The mayor sat down.
At his desk.
To send out.
His daily Facebook update.
He told his followers.
That the ‘orcs’ forces.
Occupying the city.
Had now taken control of.
The city's communications network.
So they needed.
To be wary of.
What they heard on.
TV and the radio.
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
Melitopol's internet connection.
Had also all.
But disappeared.
Making it nearly impossible.
To reach people inside.
By WhatsApp or Telegram call.
Or stay connected for.
More than a few minutes.
The ordinary phone lines.
Were no longer an option.
When the Telegram app.
Finally connected.
“We cannot use.”
The mayor said.
“Too easy for the ‘orcs’.
To listen in.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
When the invading forces.
Took control of Melitopol.
A week ago.
They ransacked the mayor's offices.
Exiling his team to.
Another location where.
They are attempting to.
Continue running their city.
“We are not co-operating.
With the ‘orcs’ in any way.”
The mayor said emphatically.
“They have not tried to help us.”
“They have not tried to help us.
They cannot help us.
And we do not want.
Their help.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
‘The One’ has claimed.
He is liberating historically.
‘Orcs’ lands and ‘orcs’-language speakers.
From a Nazi regime.
But in Melitopol.
And a string of other.
Mainly-‘orcs’-language speaking.
Southern and eastern cities.
His forces have found themselves.
Treated as occupiers.
“There are protests.
In Melitopol every day.”
Said a woman, 33.
Who before the invasion.
Helped run her family business.
Of electronics stores.
“At some point.
The ‘orcs’ army started.
Shooting at us and.
One man got shot.”
“But we have not.
Stopped protesting.
We are not.
Afraid to protest.”
“Because we are together.
We are afraid.
To walk alone at night.
But we are not afraid to protest.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
About 5,000 people gathered.
In Melitopol's central square.
On Tuesday.
The mayor reckoned.
Despite the shooting.
Last week.
Which wounded a man.
In the leg.
Videos have surfaced.
Showing protests in.
Occupied and part-occupied.
Cities and towns.
Across the region.
- Kherson, Berdyansk.
Starobilsk, Novopskov.
Across the region.
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
“I don't know how.
To count the number of.
People protesting.
I thought it was.”
“2,000 at least.”
Said a 29-year-old IT worker.
In the southern city.
Of Kherson.
“One of our friends.
Was beaten and.
Taken by the ‘orcs’ soldiers.
And people got so angry.”
“And people got so angry.
They chased the occupiers.
Down the street.
And took him back.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
The ‘orcs’ troops.
In Kherson looked.
Young and uncertain.
Said an English teacher, 63.
“We go to the protests.
Every day and.
They are close to us.
But they look afraid.”
“We are all just waiting.
For the ‘elves’ army.
To kick them out.”
“To kick them out.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
“Our people need to protest.
But they also need to.
Save their lives.”
Said the Melitopol mayor.
“I have asked them.
- please do not go.
Near the ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Go around them.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
The mayor of Novopskov.
A town near Donbas, said.
There had been daily protests.
But they had stopped.
Three days ago.
When ‘orcs’ soldiers shot.
Three protestors - non-fatally –
And beat another.
He said the ‘orcs’ troops.
Told an intermediary.
They had authorisation.
To shoot protesters.
So there should be.
No more protests.
Novopskov appeared.
To be an example of.
A strange and uneasy scenario.
Playing out in.
Some parts of Ukraine.
Where local ‘elves’ officials were.
Continuing to function.
In some form but.
‘Orcs’ military forces were.
In control.
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
In the occupied city.
Of Starobilsk, nearby.
The mayor was also working.
Remotely, she said.
“A new’'administration’.
Has been appointed.
The only thing we know.
Is that it is going around.”
“Government buildings.
And asking people.
To co-operate.
And they are refusing.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
The mayor and his team left town.
When ‘orcs’ seized Novopskov.
In order to keep.
His administration running.
- a move he said.
Had divided residents.
- a move he said.
Had divided residents.
Some of whom accused.
Him of a betrayal.
While others said they were grateful.
He was still able to work.
Two residents of Kherson said.
They thought the mayor there.
Had betrayed the city.
By co-operating with ‘orcs’ forces.
- an accusation circulating.
In Telegram chat groups.
Two others said he was.
Simply doing what he could.
To ensure the city.
Kept running.
The mayor of Kherson said.
“If I had betrayed the city.”
“Would I still be here?
I am in the office every day.
Working with my team.
To keep things running.”
The priority was.
To restart food production.
And get people back.
To work, he said.
“We are running out of food.
And there is no aid.
Coming in.
it's just not happening.”
“So we are telling everyone.
In the city:
Make any food you can make.
Manufacture anything you can manufacture.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
Most residents who spoke.
From the occupied cities.
Said food was.
Fast running out.
“Shops are almost empty.
You can buy the things.
That are left but.
Very few things are left.”
Said the electronics shop owner.
From Melitopol.
“Pharmacies are empty and.
My mother can't buy her heart medicine.”
She said that two ‘orcs’ trucks.
With humanitarian markings.
Came into the city centre.
Last week.
And attempted to hand out food.
But they also brought.
A film crew.
Nearly everyone refused, she said.
“Later we saw on it on TV.
‘Mordor’ has taken over.
The TV towers here.
So we only have one ‘orcs’ channel.”
“Being shown now.
And it was showing people taking.
The food and saying how thankful they are.
To the ‘orcs’ humanitarian convoy.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
A 22-year-old piano teacher.
In the city.
Also described the supposed.
Humanitarian convoy.
“They were filming and.
People said actors arrived.
To take the food.”
He said.
The IT worker in Kherson said.
She saw the same thing there.
And ‘elves' media reported on.
The phenomenon in Berdyansk.
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
The mayor of Melitopol said.
He had heard about these.
‘Humanitarian convoys’ too.
But there were “no real.”
“‘Orcs’ trucks and.
No real ‘orcs’ food.”
“They could open.
Humanitarian corridors.”
“At any time.
To allow food and medicine in.
But they do not want to.
We know, we have tried.”
How many people.
How many people.
Would see his warning.
He didn't know.
On Tuesday afternoon.
As usual.
The mayor of Melitopol put out.
His daily Facebook update.
Appealing to anyone.
In the city who could.
Afford it to pay.
Their utility bills.
And congratulating ‘elves’ women.
On International Women's Day.
“I'm sure the war.
Will end soon.”
“And we will celebrate.
All our holidays.
In a peaceful.
‘Elves’ Melitopol.”
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
We are not co-operating': Life in occupied Ukraine
No.9
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS FROM NEMESIS
An ‘elves’ drone team.
From the Nemesis group.
Scored one of the more.
Impressive kills.
Of ‘orcs’ 31-month.
Wider war on Ukraine.
Last week.
When it spotted.
A fast-moving ‘orcs’.
Turtle tank and.
Carefully leading.
The speeding vehicle.
Dropped one grenade.
To crack open the tank’s.
Add-on armor.
— and then dropped.
A second grenade.
Under the tank’s tracks.
At night.
At night.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
“Our pilots demonstrated.
The highest level of skill.”
The ‘elves’ military’s.
Drone branch boasted.
The drone’s third grenade missed.
But it didn’t matter.
The damaged tank.
Veered off the road.
Its three crew clambered out.
From under the vehicle’s.
Punctured metal shell.
And scurried away.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
‘Gandalf the Green’ announced.
The formation of a separate.
Drone branch — the world’s first —
Back in February.
The Unmanned Systems Forces.
Flies a wide array of.
Drone types for surveillance.
Strike and supply missions.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
‘Elf’ minister for digital transformation.
Said the country’s drones.
“Fundamentally changed.
The situation on the battlefield.”
He predicted the separate.
Unmanned Systems Forces.
Would accelerate.
Technological advancements.
Night capability is.
One of the branch’s priorities.
Night capability is.
One of the branch’s priorities.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
Early in the wider war.
Most drones were strictly equipped.
With daylight cameras and.
Were ineffective at night.
Late last year.
The ‘elves’ began deploying.
So-called “vampire” drones.
Fitted with infrared cameras.
Giving the soon-to-be-independent.
Military drone groups.
Their first true.
Nighttime capability.
The vampire drones wreaked.
Havoc on unprepared.
‘Orcs’ troops who had come to.
Equate darkness with protection.
Dropping grenades by the dozen.
The drones blew up.
Parked vehicles and.
Wrecked fortifications.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
Many of the early.
Vampire drone raids.
Targeted stationary targets:
‘Orcs’ troops in their overnight bivouacs.
But as the ‘elves’ operators.
Grew more skilled.
—a trend the establishment of.
The Unmanned Systems Forces.
Was meant to encourage—
they began going.
After moving targets, too.
After moving targets, too.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
More and more explosive.
First-person-view drones.
On both sides of.
The wider war have.
On-board artificial intelligence.
That helps guide them toward.
Human-shaped targets in.
The final moments of their flights.
But the vampire drones.
Aren’t single-use FPV drones.
A three-pound FPV.
Might cost 0.
A vampire drone might.
Weigh up to 40 pounds.
And cost more than.
,000.
Instead of flying into their targets.
Like an inexpensive FPV does.
A vampire drone bombs.
It from overhead.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
The targeting A.I. is.
Less useful in this context.
So operator skill is.
Still everything when.
A vampire drone goes.
After a moving target.
For the vampire drone operator.
It’s old-fashioned bombardment:
Matching the target’s speed.
And direction and.
Calculating lead.
Based on altitude.
The ‘orcs’ called the night drones.
“Baba Yagas” after.
A forest witch.
From Slavic folklore.
It’s a safe bet.
Many nighttime drone.
Bombing runs on.
Moving targets miss.
— and the Unmanned Systems Forces.
Simply declines to post.
The videos of.
The failed attacks.
That any of the nocturnal raids.
Are successful is.
Impressive, however.
“Hitting a moving target.”
“Is an asterisk task.”
The branch stated.
Using the term “asterisk”.
To mean “special.”
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
On this video: How Ukraine's grenade-dropping drones changed war.
Please read the original story:
Ukraine’s Night Drones Are Bombing Moving Russian Tanks Now (forbes.com)
No.10
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS FRAGILE
‘Mordor’ has made.
Sweeping advances.
In recent days.
That threaten.
To outweigh the gains.
Made by ‘elves’.
In its cross-border attack.
Into the Kursk region.
‘Orcs’ forces are just.
A few kilometres.
From the ‘elves’ city.
Of Pokrovsk.
A crucial logistics hub.
Used by the ‘elves’ military.
Home to a key railway station.
And major roads.
Pokrovsk is an essential supply.
And reinforcement point.
For ‘elves’ troops.
On the eastern front line.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
Critics in Kyiv.
Fear that the country's.
Military has made.
A serious miscalculation.
By sending troops.
Into Kursk.
Instead of reinforcing.
The eastern frontline.
The military has left.
Pokrovsk and other important.
‘Elves’ towns exposed.
These critics say.
‘The One’ launched.
A full-scale invasion.
Of Ukraine in February.
2022.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
On a visit.
To the front line.
‘Elves’ armed forces chief.
Gen said.
‘Mordor’ was throwing.
“Everything that can move”.
“Everything that can move”.
Into its assault.
“The situation is.
Extremely difficult.”
‘Gandalf the Green’.
Conceded on Wednesday.
“If we lose Pokrovsk.”
A military expert warned.
“The entire front line.
Will crumble.”
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
Why Pokrovsk matters?
Why Pokrovsk matters?
Pokrovsk is next to.
Another town, Myrnohrad.
Together, the two settlements.
Had a pre-war population of.
Over 100,000.
Most of whom have now fled.
They are the last major cities.
In that part of.
The Donetsk region that.
Remain under ‘elves’ control.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
Avdiivka, which is.
About 40km.
South-east of Pokrovsk
Was seen as a fortress.
That protected the settlements.
And roads to its west.
- helping to bolster ‘elves’ presence.
Along the entire frontline.
When it finally fell.
Avdiivka was left in ruins.
It was a serious loss.
For Ukraine.
It meant that ‘Mordor’ could.
Move its focus to Pokrovsk.
And the key hilltop town.
Of Chasiv Yar.
Which overlooks some of.
The important cities.
In Donetsk still.
Under ‘elves’ control.
Under ‘elves’ control.
Intense fighting.
There on Saturday.
Left five people dead.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
For weeks now.
A mass evacuation of.
‘Elves’ civilians from Pokrovsk.
Has been under way.
With thousands said.
To have left already.
Gen said he was working.
“To strengthen the defence of.”
“To strengthen the defence of.
Our troops in.
The most difficult areas.
Of the front.”
“To provide the brigades.
With a sufficient amount of.
Ammunition and other.
Material and technical means”.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
‘Mordor’ has long.
Held Pokrovsk.
As one of its.
Key objectives.
For months its forces.
Have slowly ground.
Towards it.
Experts believe.
‘Mordor’ has deployed.
Around one third of its.
Central Army Group.
Or about 30,000 troops.
To the offensive.
To the offensive.
- as well as its most.
Battle-ready reserves.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
This week, ‘orcs’ took.
The ‘elves’ town.
Of Novohrodivka.
Infuriating some in Ukraine.
Who felt it should.
Have been better defended.
“The trenches in front of.
Novohrodivka were empty.”
“There was practically.
No ‘elves’ army in the once.
20,000-strong city.”
An ‘elf’ MP wrote on Facebook.
With its forces undermanned.
And outnumbered.
It is believed.
The ‘elves’ military withdrew.
From Novohrodivka.
To strengthen its defence.
Of Pokrovsk.
“The ‘elves’ command likely.”
“Deemed the defence of.
Novohrodivka not worth.
The potential losses.”
One report said.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
Elsewhere, ‘orcs’ forces.
Have launched assaults.
On the town of Selidove.
Just south of Novohrodivka.
And other areas of.
The Donetsk region nearby.
The ‘orcs’ offensive.
Has been helped by.
A shift in tactics.
Which are increasingly mirroring.
Those used earlier in the war.
By the Wagner mercenary group.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
‘Elves’ forces report.
Coming up against.
Wave after wave of.
‘Orcs’ infantry sent forwards.
In an attempt.
To storm their positions.
Some have dubbed.
These tactics “meat assaults”.
The tactics - though costly –
Quickly exhaust ‘elves’ units.
Forced to fend off.
Constant attacks.
Armoured vehicles.
Are used sparingly.
- complicating the task of.
‘Elves’ tanks and artillery.
Which have little to aim.
At on the battlefield.
‘Mordor’ has also been.
Using powerful glide bombs.
Forcing ‘elves’ to disperse its units.
When shelling begins and.
Sometimes even withdraw troops.
From the front line.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
‘Orcs’ forces’ march.
On Pokrovsk doesn’t.
Just imperil Pokrovsk.
Its vital supply lines.
Its ‘elves’ garrison.
And any civilians.
Still lingering.
In the city.
It’s also putting.
‘Elves’ troops.
South of Pokrovsk.
In a dangerous bind.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
As a strong ‘orcs’ force with.
Potentially tens of thousands of.
Troops has closed to within.
Six miles of Pokrovsk.
It has bypassed.
A strong ‘elves’ force.
Holding the line between.
The village of Memryk.
And the Vovcha River.
Threading north to south.
Three miles east.
Of Memryk.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
The result is.
An exposed salient.
Jutting eastward.
Into the ‘orcs’ line.
— a salient that.
With a few decisive ‘orcs’ maneuvers.
Could turn into a trap for.
Hundreds of ‘elves’ troops.
Inside the salient:
Elements of the 59th.
Motorized Infantry Brigade.
68th Jager Brigade.
117th.
Territorial Defense Brigade.
And 15th National Guard Brigade.
It’s a significant force.
But one whose integrity.
Depends on.
The 25th Airborne Brigade.
Which defends the village.
Which defends the village.
Or Ukrainsk.
On the salient’s.
Northern corner.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
If the 25th Airborne Brigade.
With its German-made.
Marder fighting vehicles.
“Does not stop the enemy.”
“Near Ukrainsk.
The retreat could result in.
… encirclement by the enemy.”
A report warned.
Parts of at least.
Four ‘elves’ brigades.
Would be surrounded by.
‘Orcs’ south of Pokrovsk.
An ‘elves’ retreat may.
Already be underway.
If so, it’s a sound move.
On the part of.
The ‘elves’ command.
“It would be advisable.
For them to withdraw.
From the area before.”
“‘Orcs’ forces cut off.
Their supply and.
Retreat routes.”
Another report explained.
The ‘elves’ could.
Straighten their lines.
And dig new fortifications.
A few miles to the west.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
Quitting the salient.
Would cede 30 square miles.
To the ‘orc’.
But could preserve.
Entire ‘elves’ battalions.
At a critical moment.
Entire ‘elves’ battalions.
At a critical moment.
The more optimistic ‘elves’.
Assessments of the fighting.
Around Pokrovsk detect.
A slowdown in the ‘orcs’ advance.
— one that could give.
The ‘elves’ time and space.
To shore up their defenses.
And logistics and save the city.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
A slowdown would.
Make some sense.
The ‘orcs’ have suffered.
Extreme casualties.
— potentially tens of thousands.
Of soldiers killed.
Maimed or captured —
Marching the 20 miles.
From the ruins.
Of Avdiivka.
To the outskirts.
Of Pokrovsk.
And while the ‘orcs’ attackers.
Still outnumber.
The ‘elves’ defenders.
As much as four to one.
The ‘orcs’ losses have sapped.
Their momentum.
But ‘elves’ positions around.
Pokrovsk are fragile.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
The ‘elves’ general staff in Kyiv.
Is delicately balancing.
At least two.
Major operations:
The defense of Pokrovsk.
And also the surprise.
‘Elves’ invasion of.
‘Mordor’’s Kursk Oblast.
That kicked off.
In early August.
There are few troops.
To spare.
So few that losing parts of.
Four brigades inside the salient.
Could prove catastrophic.
For the ‘elves’.
At the same time.
A successful evacuation.
By those nearly-surrounded.
Troops could stiffen.
A straightened and.
Shortened ‘elves’ line.
That’s probably.
A prerequisite.
The battle for Pokrovsk.
Is really a continuation.
Of the battle.
For Avdiivka.
Which Ukraine lost.
In February.
After months of.
Bloody fighting.
A prerequisite.
For the most optimistic.
Outcome for the ‘elves’.
Defending Pokrovsk.
“In our view.
Stabilization on this section.
Of the front line is indeed.
Possible by fall,” was explained.
“After the ‘orcs’ army exhausts.
Its offensive potential.
The front line is likely.
To come to a standstill.”
‘Mordor’ has made.
Sweeping advances.
In recent days.
That threaten.
To outweigh the gains.
Made by ‘elves’.
In its cross-border attack.
Into the Kursk region.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Russia pushes on key Ukraine city of Pokrovsk while Kyiv's Kursk incursion slows
Hundreds Of Ukrainians Are About To Get Surrounded South Of Pokrovsk (forbes.com)
No.11
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS DESTROYING AROUND HLUSHKIVKA
‘Orcs’ forces.
In eastern Ukraine.
Are attacking west.
Toward the Oskil River.
Apparently aiming to.
Cut in half.
The ‘elves’ Khortytsia.
Operational strategic group.
In the area — complicating.
The group’s resupply.
And preventing them from.
Supporting each other.
The effort is extremely.
Costly for the ‘orcs’.
The effort is extremely.
Costly for the ‘orcs’.
‘Orcs’ captured the village.
Of Pischane, five miles.
East of the Oskil River.
Back in July.
Now they’re trying.
— and so far failing —
To reach the Oskil River near.
The village of Hlushkivka.
On Thursday.
A powerful ‘orcs’ force.
With around a hundred.
Armored vehicles.
Attacked in three directions.
Targeting ‘elves’ positions.
North and south.
Of the salient.
In the north.
‘Elves’ brigades and battalions.
Anchored by.
The 77th Air Mobile Brigade.
Fought back.
Apparently in the usual way:
With drones.
Artillery and anti-tank missiles.
In the south.
The ‘elves’ 92nd.
Assault Brigade also.
Held the line.
‘Elves’ 40th Artillery Brigade is.
Close enough to the Pischane salient.
To fire on ‘orcs’ troops.
Anywhere in the salient.
‘Orcs’ captured the village.
Of Pischane, five miles.
East of the Oskil River.
Back in July.
Now they’re trying.
— and so far failing —
To reach the Oskil River near.
The village of Hlushkivka.
‘Orcs’ losses were heavy.
In the south.
The 92nd Mechanized Brigade.
Claimed it destroyed.
14 vehicles.
Including three tanks.
Five BMP fighting vehicles.
An unspecified armored personnel carrier.
An MTLB.
Armored tractor.
Three trucks.
And a golf cart.
The 77th Air Mobile Brigade.
Claimed it “repulsed”.
The ‘orcs’ attack.
In its area.
But didn’t specify.
How many vehicles.
It destroyed.
A drone video.
Of the battle depicts.
At least six immobilized.
And burning vehicles.
Including up-armored turtle tanks.
‘Orcs’ captured the village.
Of Pischane, five miles.
East of the Oskil River.
Back in July.
Now they’re trying.
— and so far failing —
To reach the Oskil River near.
The village of Hlushkivka.
In all, the ‘orcs’ force.
Lost at least a fifth.
Of its vehicles.
— blunting the ‘orcs’ offensive.
Toward the Oskil River.
And buying time for.
Local ‘elves’ troops to.
Reinforce their defenses.
The ‘orcs’ may yet.
Win the battle.
“The enemy will soon.
Reach the left bank.”
“Of the Oskil River in.
The Hlushkivka-Kruhlyakivka sector.
And split the Khortytsia.
OSG bridgehead.”
“On the Oskil River.
Into two parts.”
Was predicted.
But if Thursday’s.
Extreme losses.
Are any indication.
It might be yet another.
Pyrrhic victory for the ‘orcs’.
They gain some ground.
But at the cost of a lot of.
Increasingly difficult-to-replace.
Equipment and people.
‘Orcs’ captured the village.
Of Pischane, five miles.
East of the Oskil River.
Back in July.
Now they’re trying.
— and so far failing —
To reach the Oskil River near.
The village of Hlushkivka.
‘Orcs’ forces.
In eastern Ukraine.
Are attacking west.
Toward the Oskil River.
Apparently aiming to.
Cut in half.
The ‘elves’ Khortytsia.
Operational strategic group.
In the area — complicating.
The group’s resupply.
And preventing them from.
Supporting each other.
The effort is extremely.
Costly for the ‘orcs’.
The effort is extremely.
Costly for the ‘orcs’.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
100 Russian Vehicles Attacked The Oskil River. 20 Didn’t Come Back. (forbes.com)
No.12
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS WATCHING
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
For at least.
The sixth time.
In eight months.
‘Orcs’ troops gathered out.
In the open for.
Training or inspection.
Within range of ‘elves’.
American-made artillery rockets.
And for at least.
The sixth time.
In eight months.
‘Elves’ batteries hit.
The assembled ‘orcs’ with.
Rockets packed with hundreds of.
Grenade-sized submunitions.
— inflicting terrible carnage.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
The most recent strike.
Apparently took place.
This week.
At an outdoor gun range.
In Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
In southern Ukraine.
An ‘elves’ surveillance drone.
Observed around.
15 ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Practicing with their weapons.
— and passed along.
The coordinates to elements of.
The 27th Rocket Artillery Brigade.
The ‘elves’ army's sole unit.
Operating American-made High Mobility.
Artillery Rocket Systems launchers.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
The wheeled HIMARS.
Opened fire with at least one.
M30/31 rocket packing.
400 grenade-sized bomblets.
The first rocket scored.
A direct hit.
The drone observed at least.
One bomblet exploding.
Directly where.
An ‘orc’ trainee was standing.
The death toll could be.
Catastrophic for.
The targeted unit.
‘Orcs’ troops routinely.
Conduct training out.
In the open within range.
Of ‘elves’ best American-made rockets.
Including the GPS-guided.
M30/31s.
This risky practice reflects.
A lack of professionalism.
In an army that’s been losing.
More than a thousand people.
Every day on average in Ukraine.
And letting its standards slip.
As it rushes 30,000.
New recruits to the front line.
Each month.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
In mid-September.
A HIMARS raid on.
An ‘orcs’ training facility.
In the Petrovskiy district of Donetsk.
In eastern Ukraine.
15 miles from the front line.
Left at least a dozen.
‘Orcs’ dead.
HIMARS had struck.
‘Orcs’ training grounds.
In the same area.
At least twice.
Before since February.
Killing around 100 people.
Two more ‘elves’ rocket strikes.
In the same period.
— one each in southern and.
Northeastern Ukraine —
Added at least another 150.
‘Orcs’ trainees to the death toll.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
Surveillance drones are.
Everywhere all the time along.
The 700-mile front line of ‘orcs’.
31-month wider war on Ukraine.
And all of ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
Is within the 57-mile range of.
The 650-pound.
M30/31 rocket.
Or the 190-mile range of.
The 3,700-pound M39 rocket.
— the latter fired by ‘elves’.
Tracked M270 launchers.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
This dynamic works.
Against the ‘elves’, too.
All of Ukraine is within range.
Of ‘orcs’ drones and missiles.
But there’s much more evidence.
Of ‘elves’ strikes on.
Exposed ‘orcs’ trainees.
Than there is evidence.
Of ‘orcs’ strikes on.
Exposed ‘elves’ trainees.
Sloppy and inexperienced.
‘Orcs’ commanders might be at fault.
But it’s also possible.
The commanders just.
Don’t care whether.
Their trainees are in danger.
A report noted.
“A callous disregard for.
The lives of ‘orcs’ own.
Soldiers throughout.”
“The war thus far.
Both within ‘Mordor’ and.
Amongst ‘orcs’ troops.
On the battlefield.”
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
Incredibly.
It happened again.
‘Orcs’ troops gathered for.
Training out in the open.
Within range of ‘elves’.
Best artillery, apparently.
In Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
In ‘orcs’-occupied southern Ukraine.
An ‘elves’ drone spotted.
The trainees and relayed.
The coordinates to.
An ‘elves’ HIMARS battery.
A 660-pound rocket.
Packed with hundreds of.
Grenade-sized submunitions.
Streaked down.
Peppering the ‘orcs’.
With lethal fragments.
The Wednesday strike on.
‘Orcs’ forces in Zaporizhzhia.
Came just days after.
A separate ‘elves’ raid.
On ‘orcs’ trainees.
In the same oblast.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
Altogether, there have been.
No fewer than seven raids.
On ‘orcs’ trainees all along.
The 700-mile front line since February.
Potentially hundreds.
Of ‘orcs’ have died.
Like the strike that.
Preceded it.
The most recent ‘elves’ strike.
Targeted ‘orcs’ troops.
At what appears to be.
A shooting range.
As an ‘elves’ drone.
Watched from overhead.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ gathered.
In broad daylight on a clear day.
An ‘elves’ rocket, apparently.
An American-made M30/31.
Packing 400 bomblets.
Scored a direct hit.
The drone lingered.
The drone lingered.
Observing the ‘orcs’ survivors.
— and the ‘orcs’ bodies.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
The raid says as much about.
‘Elves’ growing deep-strike.
Capabilities as it does about.
‘Orcs’ commanders’ negligence.
In attempting to conduct.
Training within.
The 57-mile range of.
The GPS-guided M30/31 rockets.
The drone that provided.
The intelligence for the Wednesday raid.
Reportedly belonged to.
The Black Forest drone group.
Which operates ‘elves’-made.
Shark unmanned aerial vehicles.
“Artillery has radically.
Transformed thanks to UAVs.”
A Black Forest sergean said.
“Before drones appeared.
Artillery and multiple-launch.
Rocket systems were used.”
“In batteries of six to 12 machines.
To simply bombard entire areas.
Now, the launchers and guns.
Fire one by one.”
“Now, the launchers and guns.
Fire one by one.”
Because UAVs allow for.
Precise fire adjustment.”
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
As recently as September.
The Black Forest group was.
In Pokrovsk.
A fortress city in eastern Ukraine.
Launching the 28-pound.
Camera-equipped Sharks.
From Pokrovsk.
The group helped hunt down.
The group helped hunt down.
‘Orcs’ air defense batteries.
Protecting the assault groups.
Attacking toward the city.
This week’s strike.
In the south seems to indicate.
The Black Forest group has moved to.
A different sector of the front line.
— or has at least detached.
Some of its drones.
And drone operators.
To work in the south.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
For the Wednesday attack.
The drone crews reportedly.
Teamed up with.
The ‘elves’ army’s.
128th Mountain Brigade.
Which has been holding.
The line in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
For a year now.
The Black Forest group’s.
Shark drones are.
Recent acquisitions.
Kyiv tech firm designed.
The catapult-launched.
Propeller-driven Shark.
In the immediate aftermath.
Of ‘orcs’ wider attack on Ukraine.
In February 2022.
The company realized.
Its best drones.
Including the PD-2.
Were too sophisticated.
And expensive for.
The demands of.
A full-scale war.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
“We decided to minimize.
The complex features.
We developed for.
The PD-2.”
“And provide a highly simplified.
Mass-producible drone.”
The head of the company said.
“However, it still.”
“However, it still.
Needed to be of.
Sufficient quality to.
Perform all the tasks.”
“Required for reconnaissance.
And artillery fire adjustment.”
Ranging as far as.
50 miles under radio control.
A Shark neatly matches.
The range of.
The M30/31 rocket.
A Shark neatly matches.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
Shark drones and.
HIMARS launchers make.
A deadly team; together.
They are extending.
The reach of ‘elves’ strikes.
— and making them more precise.
Early in the war.
The Black Forest group flew.
Most of its surveillance missions.
Within just a few miles.
Of the front line.
That’s changing.
“We are actually no longer.
Interested in a 12-mile range.”
A Black Forest officer said.
“Our task is.”
“Our task is.
As we call it.
Is low deep strikes;
Up to 19 miles and beyond.”
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
The implication is that.
The ‘orcs’ training session.
That got rocketed.
On Wednesday took place.
No farther than 20 miles.
From the front line.
That’s recklessly close given.
How far M30/31 rockets.
Can travel — and how deadly.
Even one of the rockets.
Can be against.
Exposed troops.
If you and your comrades.
Are gathering out in the open.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Ukraine.
There’s a good chance.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
‘Elves’ forces are watching.
… and taking aim.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Russian Troops Gathered for Training Within Range Of Ukraine’s Rockets (forbes.com)
Russians Met For Training, Again. A Ukrainian Rocket Struck, Again. (forbes.com)
No.13
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS AT A PORT
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
‘Orcs’ missiles have hit.
A civilian container ship.
At a port in ‘elves’.
Odesa region.
Killing eight people.
“This is the third attack.
On a civilian vessel.
In the past four days.”
Said the region's head.
Who described it as.
“Yet another crime”.
By an “insidious enemy”.
He said ‘orcs’ had targeted.
Port infrastructure.
And all the victims.
Were ‘elves’.
A 46-year-old port employee.
And another man.
Aged 26, died of.
Their injuries in hospital.
While several others were wounded.
The wave of strikes.
On ‘elves’ Black Sea ports.
Coincided with a European tour.
By ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Who is visiting leaders.
In London, Paris.
Rome and Berlin.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
‘Gandalf the Green’.
Played down any disappointment.
Before his trip.
To London though.
“Any leader in similar circumstances.
Would have stayed.
In their country.”
He told journalists in Croatia.
On Wednesday.
He expected a “new schedule”.
For the leaders’ meeting.
To be prepared shortly.
Later on Thursday.
‘Gandalf the Green’ held talks.
With French President in Paris.
And then went to Rome.
To meet Italian Prime Minister.
The Italian leader announced.
That Rome would host.
The next “recovery conference”.
To help Ukraine's reconstruction.
In July 2025.
On Friday.
‘Gandalf the Green’ will meet.
Pope at the Vatican.
Before heading to Germany.
To Berlin for talks.
With German Chancellor.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
‘Orcs’ overnight attacks.
On Ukraine also wounded.
Several people in the southern city.
Of Zaporizhzhia.
Twenty-nine homes.
Were destroyed and.
Pictures released by.
Regional officials show.
A giant crater.
In the mud.
With bricks and wood.
Strewn all around.
Warnings of.
A glide-bomb attack.
Had come at 06:00 local time.
On Thursday.
Residents were left.
Looking at the ruins.
In their dressing gowns.
And slippers.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
Meanwhile, ‘elves’ drones.
Targeted a military airfield.
In the Maikop region.
Of southern ‘Mordor’.
‘Orcs’ missile strike.
On the Odesa region hit.
A Panamanian-registered ship.
On Wednesday night.
The region's head said.
- two days after.
A Palau-flagged ship was attacked.
Killing one person on board.
Another ship, which was.
Said to be carrying.
6,000 tonnes of corn.
Was attacked on Sunday.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
The ‘elves’ government says.
‘Orcs’ attacks on Odesa's.
Black Sea ports.
Are aiming to destroy.
Grain exports that guarantee.
International food security.
At a key time of year.
Following the harvest.
“It feels like.
They are focusing on the port.
Again like last summer.”
A local resident said.
She lives close.
To the waterfront.
And heard the missile strikes.
This week.
“I feel this anxiety.
And I feel.
It increases.
Day by day.”
“I can’t say.
My general state is calm.”
She said Iranian-made.
Shahed drones were also.
Now launched at Odesa.
“Almost every night”.
Buzzing ominously overhead.
Before they swooped.
Or were shot down.
By air defences.
But she is worried about.
The way out of this war, too.
As ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Travels the world.
Presenting what he’s calling.
A “Victory Plan”.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
“It’s more like anger.
Because we have no idea.
What this plan is about.”
She explained.
“We can only assume that.
It would be some kind.
Of compromise.
But ‘Mordor’ has already caused.”
“So much damage and.
Killed so many people.
I’m not sure.
After this scale of.”
“Tragedy and pain.
Our society would accept.
Any kind of compromise.
In ‘orcs’ favour.”
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
“This war has to end.”
Another resident of.
The Odesa region said.
“It’s been tough and bloody.”
“It’s been tough and bloody.
And it feels like.
It’s going in spirals.
And now it feels like.”
“The level of violence.
And destruction.
Is growing.
‘Mordor’ needs to be stopped.”
He saw the flash then.
Felt the blast wave of.
Another attack.
Earlier this week.
— and sees the renewed.
‘Orcs’ strikes on.
‘Elves’ attempts to maintain.
Its grain exports.
As particularly disturbing.
“This is a different level.
‘Orcs’ ballistic missiles.
Get better and.”
“We don’t have enough air defences.
Just a lot of promises.
But the situation is getting worse.
And, as we see, more people die.”
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
According to ‘elves’ figures.
More than 20 civilian ships.
Have now been damaged.
In ‘orcs’ attacks.
Since the start of the war.
In 2022.
‘Elf’ foreign minister.
Has appealed to.
“Responsible states” to ensure freedom.
Of navigation and food security.
Grain silos and other port infrastructure.
Have been badly damaged too.
Last week.
The port of Izmail.
Was targeted by drones.
Near the River Danube.
And a Romanian border crossing.
And grain facility were damaged.
However, Ukraine has succeeded.
In creating a maritime corridor.
To ensure the safety.
Of grain exports.
After ‘Mordor’ pulled out of.
A Black Sea grain deal last year.
Some 962,000 tonnes.
Of grain have been exported.
So far this month.
Says the agriculture ministry in Kyiv.
— double the volume shipped.
In the same period last year.
— double the volume shipped.
In the same period last year.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
‘Orcs’ missiles have hit.
A civilian container ship.
At a port in ‘elves’.
Odesa region.
Killing eight people.
“This is the third attack.
On a civilian vessel.
In the past four days.”
Said the region's head.
Who described it as.
“Yet another crime”.
By an “insidious enemy”.
The overnight attack.
Was the fourth.
On the Odesa region.
In five days.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
The overnight attack.
Was the fourth.
On the Odesa region.
In five days.
The head of ‘elves’ Odesa region.
Has said its three ports.
Are “not possible”.
To protect fully.
Because they span.
Such a large area.
And ‘Mordor’ has intensified.
Its missile attacks.
He was speaking.
After a 16-year-old girl.
Two women and a man.
Were killed in an ‘orcs’ strike.
On a two-floor building.
To the north-west.
Of Odesa city.
It was the fourth.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
It was the fourth.
Such attack on.
The Black Sea coastal region.
In five days.
And the region's head said.
“Probably a ballistic missile.
Was targeting.
An infrastructure facility.”
“But it hit nearby instead.
— into this place.”
‘Mordor’ has not commented.
On its wave of missile strikes.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
A further nine people.
Were killed in an attack.
On a cargo ship.
Early on Thursday.
There have been.
Ballistic missile strikes.
On Odesa’s ports before.
But never so many.
But never so many.
In quick succession.
Deputy Prime Minister said.
‘Mordor’ had carried out.
60 such attacks.
In just three months.
Damaging or destroying.
Almost 300 port facilities.
He said 79 people.
Had been killed.
Or wounded and.
22 civilian vessels hit.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
The region's head said that.
Odesa's current air defences.
Were unable to cover all.
Three ports in Odesa region.
As they spanned over.
About 80km :
“So the main focus.
Is on the city of Odesa.”
“Where over a million.
People live.
The rest of the ports and towns.
Remain in a difficult situation.”
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
Other ‘elve’ ports.
— in the Zaporizhzhia.
Kherson and.
Mykolayiv regions —
Are no longer operating.
Making the facilities in Odesa.
More important than ever.
To ‘elves’ exports.
He suggested ‘Mordor’ was.
Attacking civilian vessels.
Now to harm ‘elves’ economy.
And to scare the world.
And to scare the world.
With what it could do.
“They hit the ships in Odesa.
So that the insurance companies.”
“And the ship owners.
Refuse to enter our ports.
Into the combat zone.”
The region's head said.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
‘Gandalf the Green’ is.
Promoting a “victory plan”.
To end the war and.
Told a briefing in Berlin.
He would like to see.
The war end “no later than.
Next year, 2025.”
Adding that it was.
Very important that.
Aid to Kyiv.
Did not decrease.
In the coming year.
‘Gandalf the Green’ denied.
He had been discussing.
Terms for a ceasefire.
“The key is to strengthen.”
“‘Elves’ positions.
And relations with.
Our closest partners.”
He stressed.
‘Orcs’ missiles.
Have targeted.
‘Elves’ Odesa region.
All week.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine: Russia kills eight in latest attack on Odesa port
Ukraine ports impossible to defend from attack - Odesa chief Kiper
No.14
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS EXPERIENCED
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
On July 24.
The ‘elves’ 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Holding the line outside.
The town of Kurakhivka.
In eastern Ukraine.
Repelled one of the biggest.
‘Orcs’ attacks of the year.
— a mass assault.
By 11 tanks.
45 infantry fighting vehicles.
A rare BMP-T tank.
Support vehicle.
And 12 motorcycles.
Crewed by.
Several hundred soldiers.
A mass assault.
Laying mines.
Launching drones.
Lobbing artillery and.
Firing anti-tank missiles.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Destroyed six tanks.
Seven fighting vehicles.
And all 12 bikes.
The brigade counted.
40 dead ‘orcs’ and.
37 wounded ones.
The brigade counted.
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
Three months later.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Is still swatting away.
‘Orcs’ attacks in the same area.
These attacks are much smaller.
As the ‘orcs’ have shifted.
Their main offensive effort.
15 miles to the north.
Aiming to capture.
The fortress city.
Of Pokrovsk.
But the small victories still matter.
‘Elves’ forces are stretched.
Thin all along the 700-mile.
Front line of ‘orcs’.
32-month wider war on Ukraine.
They’re defending.
In southern and eastern Ukraine.
While also trying to hold onto.
A 300-square-mile salient.
They’ve carved out.
Of ‘Mordor’’s Kursk Oblast.
Just north of.
The ‘Mordor’-Ukraine border.
The fragility of ‘elves’ lines.
Is evident in the small.
But meaningful gains.
The ‘orcs’ have made.
In various sectors.
In recent months.
In addition to.
Advancing on Pokrovsk.
The ‘orcs’ have marched.
Into the eastern city.
Of Toretsk and also.
Finally captured.
Finally captured.
The eastern town.
Of Vuhledar after.
Two years of trying.
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
In this context.
Merely preventing an ‘orcs’ advance.
Counts as a significant win.
For the ‘elves’.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Seems to appreciate.
Its victories.
However modest.
When a solitary ‘orcs’ tank.
Fitted with anti-drone cage armor.
And a front-mounted mine-roller.
Approached the ‘elves’ paratroopers.
Apparently on Friday.
The paratroopers fired.
An American-made Javelin.
Anti-tank missile.
— and then celebrated.
— and then celebrated.
The grisly results.
On social media.
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
Struck by a Javelin.
That lonely ‘orcs’ tank.
Began burning.
From the inside.
All three crew.
Bailed out.
One engulfed.
In flames.
The unburned tankers.
Tried to extinguish the fire.
Consuming their comrade.
— but then the tank exploded.
“Everyone went negative.”
One ‘elf’ blogger reported.
That’s slang for.
“They died.”
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
It’s hard, dangerous work.
Getting into position.
For a clean Javelin shot.
Anti-tank teams must lie in wait.
Patiently track targets.
As far as 1.5 miles away.
Fire a missile and.
Then flee—fast.
A 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Javelin shooter explained.
In February.
“If, after your first launch.”
“If, after your first launch.
The enemy discovers you.
They’ll throw everything at you.”
“They’ll throw everything at you.”
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
The ‘elves’ air assault forces.
Assign some of their most.
Aggressive troopers.
To anti-tank teams.
The ones who figure out.
How to survive can.
Rack up staggering numbers.
Of vehicle kills.
A 79th Air Assault Brigade missileer.
Destroyed 40 ‘orcs’ vehicles.
In 18 months.
Starting in 2022.
Another one of the brigade’s.
Javelin shooters.
Hit four vehicles.
In one skirmish in January.
Taking out just.
One tank is.
Less impressive.
But for the outnumbered.
But for the outgunned.
Defenders of eastern Ukraine.
Even small victories.
Are preferable to.
The likely alternative:
Defeat and retreat.
The likely alternative:
Defeat and retreat.
The 50-pound, infrared-guided.
Javelin is one of the best.
Anti-tank missiles.
In the world.
And the missileers from.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Are some of the world’s most.
Experienced Javelin shooters.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Firing Javelins, Ukrainian Paratroops Hang On In An Eastern Town
No.15
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS ORGANIZING A WARM MEETING
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
Hurling entire battalions.
Against ‘elves’ defenses.
In eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
On Sunday and Monday.
‘Orcs’ forces advanced.
A quarter mile through.
The ruins of the town.
Of Maksymilyanivka.
— and continued their slow.
Costly march on the city.
Of Kurakhove.
Two miles the west.
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
Capturing that quarter mile.
In Maksymilyanivka.
Cost ‘orcs’ potentially.
Hundreds of troops.
In what was one of.
The bloodiest days.
So far in the country’s.
32-month wider war on Ukraine.
The ‘elves’ general staff.
In Kyiv reported.
More than 1,700.
‘Orcs’ casualties.
‘Orcs’ casualties.
— killed, wounded.
And captured —
On Sunday.
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
The ‘orcs’ are winning.
In the sense that.
They’re slowly.
Gaining ground.
But they’re also.
Losing more troops.
Than they can mobilize.
It’s not for no reason.
That ‘Mordor’ has arranged.
For a significant number of.
North Korean troops.
To join the war effort.
The ‘orcs’ need fresh bodies.
The recent fighting.
Along the Kurakhove axis.
Was close and brutal.
In the southern part.
Of the sector.
‘Orcs’ motor rifle regiments.
And brigades rolled.
19 fighting vehicles.
And four tanks toward.
The positions of the ‘elves’.
79th Air Assault Brigade.
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Is stacked with experienced.
Anti-tank missileers and.
First-person-view drone operators.
They got another workout.
On Sunday.
“Our paratroopers once again.
Organized a warm meeting.”
“For the invader.”
The brigade reported.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
Claimed it destroyed.
Five ‘orcs’ fighting vehicles.
And a tank.
And killed 24 ‘orcs’.
“The surviving armored vehicles.”
“Were afraid of.
Our anti-tank missile systems.
And attack drones.
— and ran way.”
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
Farther north.
In the same sector.
The ‘orcs’ had.
Better luck.
The ‘elves’ 33rd Mechanized Brigade.
Equipped with up-armored.
Leopard 2A4 tanks.
Blasted the ‘orcs’ vanguard.
The Leopards knocked out.
Several passing ‘orcs’ vehicles.
With 120-millimeter cannons.
“The accuracy of the weapons.”
“Is insane.”
The brigade reported.
But enough of the attacking.
‘Orcs’ got through to capture.
The western edge of.
Maksymilyanivka.
And consolidate ‘orcs’ control.
Of the ruined town.
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
At least one ‘elf’ analyst.
Assessed recent ‘orcs’ advances.
As evidence Ukraine is.
Losing the war of attrition.
“The trend is negative unless.
Drastic measures are taken.”
Warned the founder.
Of one analysis group.
In their view, Kyiv isn’t.
Recruiting enough troops.
Or generating.
Enough new equipment.
The ‘elves’ armed forces.
Are struggling to induct.
More than 20,000 fresh troops.
A month at a time.
When they’re losing.
— you guessed it —
As many as 20,000 troops.
A month.
“Even if ‘Mordor’.
Halts advances and.
Goes on the defensive.
We lack the resources.”
“To reclaim territories.
To the 2022 borders.
Let alone.
The 1991 borders.”
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
But the ‘orcs’ are stressed, too.
‘Mordor’ recruits.
Around 30,000 fresh troops.
Every month.
— and loses 30,000 troops.
Every month.
Desperate to avoid.
An extra round of conscription.
Which would be.
Deeply unpopular.
The regime of ‘the One’.
Has negotiated with.
The regime of North Korean leader.
For thousands of.
North Korean soldiers.
To join the war effort.
By contrast.
None of ‘elves’ own allies.
Have deployed combat forces.
To Ukraine.
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
This imbalance could.
Prove critical.
“Manpower is likely the single.
Most important factor in the war.”
Noted another analyst.
“If ‘elves’ mobilization numbers.
Continue to decrease.
And ‘orcs’ can sustain.”
“Its monthly recruitment efforts.
Including possibly.
With North Korean soldiers.”
He added.
“The situation will continue.
To deteriorate unless.
‘Elves’ foreign partners can.
Provide greater support.”
The fighting in.
Donetsk is.
A microcosm.
Of the wider war.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine’s Leopard 2A4 Tanks Blasted Russian Vehicles At Close Range
No.16
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS IN VYSHNEVE
Desperate to shore up.
‘Elves’ defenses around.
Pokrovsk, a city with.
A pre-war population of 60,000.
And an important logistics hub.
25 miles west of the ruins.
Of Avdiivka.
In eastern Ukraine.
The ‘elves’ national guard.
Has deployed one of its.
Handful of offensive brigades.
— the Kara-Dag Brigade.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
The movement of.
The approximately.
2,000-person brigade.
From its normal position.
In southern Ukraine.
To an unfamiliar battlefield.
In the east.
To an unfamiliar battlefield.
Underscores the urgency.
Of ‘elves’ problems.
Between Avdiivka.
And Pokrovsk.
Since routing the ammunition-starved.
‘Elves’ garrison in Avdiivka.
In mid-February following.
A brutal, five-month siege.
‘Orcs’ brigades and.
Regiments have been.
Steadily advancing.
Toward Pokrovsk.
“The backbone of.
‘Elves’ logistics.
In Donetsk Oblast.
Is under threat.”
A report explained.
Pokrovsk “has become.
A key delivery and.
Railroad distribution hub.”
“Facilitating the supply.
Of ‘elves’ forces.
Across a broad front line.”
“Across a broad front line.”
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
As the ‘orcs’ advance.
Accelerated in August.
The general staff in Kyiv.
Finally did something about it.
It sent some reinforcements.
To the Pokrovsk axis.
To join the half-dozen.
Mechanized, air assault and.
National guard brigades.
That were already in the sector.
The Kara-Dag Brigade was.
Among these fresh forces.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
Formed in 2014.
Reorganized several times.
Bloodied in combat.
In 2022.
And then bolstered with.
Additional heavy weaponry.
— including T-64 tanks —
The Kara-Dag Brigade is.
The Kara-Dag Brigade is.
Representative of.
The national guard’s.
Offensive brigades.
Normally a paramilitary.
Policing force.
The exigencies of war.
have forced.
The brigade to fight.
Like an army brigade.
The brigade to fight.
Like an army brigade.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
The ‘elves’ national guard’s.
Website tells volunteers.
They’ll be able to choose.
Which part of the country.
They’ll garrison.
That may have been possible.
During a less chaotic period of.
‘Orcs’ 29-month wider war on Ukraine.
When national guard brigades.
Tended to fight.
In just one region.
In just one region.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
The Kara-Dag Brigade.
Is a southern brigade.
It fought north of.
The southern city of Melitopol.
In the early days.
Of the wider war.
And pretty much stayed in.
The same area for two years.
But “we guarantee combat.
Clashes on the front line.”
The national guard promises.
Recruits on its website.
— and as the wider war.
Grinds into third year.
The heaviest fighting.
Is in the east.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
But sending in the Kara-Dag Brigade.
Hasn’t halted the ‘orcs’ advance.
Many ‘elves’ troops who weren’t.
Already manning some trench.
Somewhere have joined.
‘Elves’ surprise invasion.
Of ‘Mordor’’s Kursk Oblast.
Even so.
There should be a few.
Uncommitted brigades.
Somewhere in Ukraine.
Right now.
Out of a total.
Ground combat force of.
Around 100 brigades.
Why isn’t Ukraine?
Why isn’t Ukraine?
Rushing those forces?
To Pokrovsk to save?
The city’s vital supply lines?
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
In adding forces to Kursk.
While withholding them.
From Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ leaders are gambling.
That the gains from.
Their surprise invasion.
In the north matter.
More to the war’s outcome.
Than their potential losses.
In the east.
It’s an extremely.
Risky gamble.
For three months.
A clutch of ‘orcs’ army.
Motor rifle regiments.
Has been trying to capture.
The town of Selydove.
Eight miles southeast of.
The fortress city of Pokrovsk.
In eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
And it’s only getting worse.
As the ‘orcs’ battle.
Their way toward.
Central Selydove.
On October 6.
Advancing ‘orcs’ troops overran.
A position in the town.
Held by the ‘elves’ national guard’s.
Kara Dag Brigade.
— and captured four guardsmen.
The ‘orcs’ recorded.
The prisoners under interrogation.
The next day.
The Kara Dag Brigade.
Counterattacked and.
Retook the overrun position.
There, they discovered.
The bodies of the four.
Captured guardsmen.
“The killing of prisoners of war.”
“Is a gross violation of.
The Geneva Conventions.
And is classified as.
A grave international crime.”
The ‘elves’ Office of.
The Prosecutor General stated.
‘Orcs’ troops have executed.
More than 100 ‘elves’ prisoners.
Since ‘orcs’ widened its war.
On Ukraine 32 months ago.
The frequency of the atrocities.
Has increased as ‘orcs’ losses.
Along the 700-mile front line.
Have spiked to more than.
1,000 a day.
On average.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
If the ‘orcs’ are going to.
Surround Pokrovsk, instead of.
Directly assaulting it.
They’ll have to capture Selydove.
That explains why ‘Mordor’.
Has been willing to accept.
Heavy losses in the units.
Attacking Selydove.
Including the 433rd.
Motor Rifle Regiment.
The ‘orcs’ central grouping of forces.
“Is likely to capture Selydove.”
“In the coming days.
But the occupation of the city.
Does not mean.
The capture of Pokrovsk.”
Was predicted on Thursday.
“It will lead to the depletion.
Of the assault group.
Reducing its combat effectiveness.”
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
But ‘Mordor’ has been recruiting.
30,000 fresh troops a month.
To make good its losses.
In Ukraine.
And thousands of North Korean troops.
Have begun deploying in Kursk.
Freeing up ‘orcs’ forces.
In that oblast.
To redeploy to other sectors.
Potentially including.
The Selydove-Pokrovsk axis.
At the same time.
The ‘elves’ defense ministry is.
Struggling to mobilize more than.
20,000 fresh troops a month.
Slowing if not halting.
A desperately needed expansion.
Of its ground combat forces.
The situation was so dire.
Late this summer that.
Commanders in Kyiv.
Had no choice but to send.
Most of the national guard’s.
Seven offensive brigades.
Including the Kara Dag brigade.
To the front.
Including the Kara Dag brigade.
To the front.
The national guard belongs to.
‘Elves’ interior ministry.
Not the military — and normally.
Handles internal security tasks.
That the interior ministry has.
Had to send its forces into.
Direct combat speaks to the extent of.
The defense ministry’s manpower problems.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
Launching explosive drones.
And fighting.
City block by city block.
In its Kozak armored trucks.
The Kara Dag Brigade slowed.
The attacking ‘orcs’.
Motor rifle regiments from.
The 2nd Combined Arms Army.
— but didn’t halt them.
And on Saturday.
An ‘orcs’ force reportedly.
Cut south of Selydove.
Advanced quickly along.
A defunct railroad.
And reached the edge of.
The village of Vyshneve.
If the ‘orcs’ can.
Capture Vyshneve.
They could partially.
Encircle Selydove.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
“‘Elves’ forces are holding.
Their positions in Vyshneve.”
Was reported on Saturday.
But their hold may be tenuous.
Shrugging off the loss of.
More than a thousand troops.
Every day.
The ‘orcs’ military is taking.
Advantage of the ‘elves’.
Military’s manpower crisis.
And advancing along.
Several axes in the east.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
It’s a standard ‘orcs’ tactic.
To partially encircle.
A fortified settlement.
In order to compel.
The defenders to withdraw.
It happened recently in Vuhledar.
A former ‘elves’ stronghold.
33 miles south of Pokrovsk.
Where a weary ‘elves’ brigade.
Had held out for two years.
Before a bigger ‘orcs’ force.
Finally flanked it.
That there are ‘orcs’.
On the outskirts of Vyshneve.
Means the ‘elves’ in Selydove.
Including the surviving.
Including the surviving.
Kara Dag Brigade guardsmen.
Are probably making.
Plans to withdraw.
It’s been a brutal.
And bloody fight.
For both sides.
And it’s only getting worse.
Pokrovsk is still.
The objective for the ‘orcs’.
2nd Combined Arms Army.
— and for a good reason.
It’s the southern anchor of.
A so-called “fortress belt” of.
Free cities stretching south.
From Slovyansk.
But Pokrovsk is.
But Pokrovsk is.
A much harder target.
Than Selydove.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
To Save Pokrovsk, Ukraine's National Guard Sent An Offensive Brigade
Marching Into Selydove, Russian Troops Execute 4 Ukrainian Prisoners
Russian Troops Are Trying To Surround A Ukrainian Brigade In Selydove
No.17
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS STEPPING UP
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
Western technology and finance.
Are helping Ukraine.
Carry out hundreds of.
Long-range strikes inside ‘Mordor’.
That is despite Nato allies.
Still refusing to give.
Ukraine permission to use.
Western-supplied munitions.
To do so.
To do so.
– mostly because of.
Fears of escalation.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
Ukraine has been stepping up.
Its long-range strikes.
Inside ‘Mordor’ over the past.
Few months.
Launching scores of drones.
Simultaneously.
At strategic targets.
Several times a week.
The targets include.
Air force bases.
Oil and ammunition depots.
And command centres.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
‘Elves’ firms are now producing.
Hundreds of armed.
One-way attack drones.
A month.
At a fraction of the cost.
It takes to produce.
A similar drone in the West.
One company said.
It was already creating.
A disproportionate impact.
On ‘orcs’ war economy.
At a relatively small expense.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
He says the strategy.
Is already creating.
Huge dilemmas.
For ‘Mordor’.
He believes that.
With extra investment.
It will turn the tide of.
The war in ‘elves’ favour.
Eighteen months ago.
The company.
He co-founded.
Didn’t even exist.
It is now producing.
More than a hundred.
AQ400 Scythe.
Long-range drones a month.
With a range of.
750km.
The company also makes.
Hundreds of shorter range.
AQ100 Bayonet.
Drones a month.
Which can fly.
A few hundred kilometres.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
The drones are made of wood.
And are being assembled.
In former furniture factories.
In Ukraine.
He, a former Australian.
Army Royal Engineer.
Set up the company.
With his ‘elf’ co-founder.
Backed by US finance.
It is one of at least three.
Companies now producing drones.
In Ukraine at scale.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
He describes his drones.
As “basically flying furniture.
– we assemble it.
Like Ikea”.
It takes about an hour.
To build the fuselage.
And half that time.
To put the brains inside it.
– the electronics, motor.
And explosives.
The company’s Bayonet drone.
Costs a few thousand dollars.
In contrast.
An ‘orcs’ air defence missile.
Used to shoot it down.
Can cost more than m.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
It is not only cheap drones.
Making the difference.
One large US.
Data analysis company was.
One of the first Western.
Tech companies to.
Aid ‘elves’ war effort.
It started by providing.
Software to improve.
The speed and.
Accuracy of.
Its artillery strikes.
Now it has given.
Ukraine new tools to.
Plan its long-range.
Drone strikes.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
British engineers from.
The company working.
With ‘elves’ counterparts.
Have designed a programme.
To generate and map.
The best ways.
To reach a target.
The company makes clear.
It is not involved.
In the missions.
But has helped train.
More than 1,000 ‘elves’.
But has helped train.
More than 1,000 ‘elves’.
How to use its software.
How to use its software.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
Using streams of data.
It can map ‘orcs’.
Air defences, radar.
And electronic jammers.
The end product looks similar.
To a topographical chart.
The tighter the contours.
The heavier the air defences.
The locations have already.
Been identified by ‘elves’.
Using commercial satellite.
Imagery and signals intelligence.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
A man of the company says.
The programme is.
Helping ‘elves’ to skirt around.
‘Orcs’ electronic warfare.
And air defence systems.
To reach their target.
“Understanding and visualising.
What that looks like.”
“Across the entire.
Battle space is.
Really critical to.
Optimising these missions.”
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
The execution of.
The long-range drone strikes.
Is being co-ordinated by.
‘Elves’ intelligence agencies.
Who work in secrecy.
Who work in secrecy.
But by other sources.
About some of the detail.
Scores of drones can be.
Fired for any one mission.
– as many as 60.
At one target.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
The attacks are mostly.
Carried out at night.
Most will be shot down.
As few as 10% may.
Reach the target.
Some drones are even.
Shot down along the way.
By friendly fire.
- ‘elves’ own air defences.
‘Elves’ have had to work out.
Ways to counter ‘orcs’.
Electronic jamming.
Terminal Autonomy’s.
Scythe drone uses.
Visual positioning.
– navigating its course.
– navigating its course.
And examining the terrain.
By Artificial Intelligence.
There is no pilot involved.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
There is no pilot involved.
The company’s software.
Will have already mapped.
The best routes.
That co-founder of the company.
Says flying a lot of drones.
Is key to overwhelming and.
Exhausting ‘orcs’ air defences.
So too is making the drones.
Cheaper than the missiles.
Trying to shoot them down,.
Or the targets they are trying to hit.
‘Elves’ drones have been.
Spotted more than.
1,000km.
Inside ‘Mordor’.
They have been shot down.
Over Moscow.
But the focus has been.
On military sites.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
It has forced ‘orcs’.
To move aircraft to bases.
Further away and reduce.
The frequency of their attacks.
Ukraine clearly believes.
It could do even more.
With the help of.
Western-made long-range weapons.
But so far.
Allies have rejected.
Kyiv’s pleas.
There is still a lingering fear.
Especially in Washington.
And Berlin.
That it could drag the West.
Further into the conflict.
But that hasn’t stopped.
Western companies.
And finance from.
Helping Ukraine.
Ukraine is still largely.
Having to rely on.
Its home-grown efforts.
Convinced that.
Bringing the war.
To ‘Mordor’ is.
A key to winning.
This war.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
That co-founder also believes.
Western manufacturers are still.
“Woefully unprepared” to fight.
High-intensity warfare.
– producing far fewer.
Long-range weapons.
At a much higher cost.
He says what Ukraine.
He says what Ukraine.
Really needs now.
“Is a lot of.
Good enough systems”.
“What you’re seeing now.
Is like nothing compared to.
What you’ll see.
By the end of the year.”
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
One ‘elves’ company.
Is already developing.
A new cruise missile.
At least 10 times cheaper.
A new cruise missile.
At least 10 times cheaper.
Than a British-made.
Storm Shadow missile.
Despite the West’s misgivings.
Ukraine is planning to.
Step up its attacks.
On ‘Mordor’.
The Proletarsk oil depot.
In ‘Mordor’’s Rostov region.
Burned for 10 days.
After it was hit by an ‘elves’ drone.
Satellite imagery shows.
How ‘elves’ drones have.
Successfully damaged hangars.
At its Marinovka airbase.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine's long-range strikes bring war home to Russia
No.18
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS LAUNCHING
Officials in Kyiv said.
The country's missile forces.
Launched the strike.
On the Feodosia terminal.
— the largest oil processing.
Facility on the peninsula.
— in an attack.
Overnight.
‘Elves’ military says.
It has carried out.
A strike on.
A large oil terminal.
Off the coast of.
The occupied Crimean Peninsula.
The latest in a wave.
Of attacks targeting.
‘Orcs’-controlled.
Energy facilities.
Satellite images show it is.
Still burning five days.
Officials in Kyiv said.
The country's missile forces.
Launched the strike.
On the Feodosia terminal.
- the largest oil processing.
Facility on the peninsula.
- in an attack.
Overnight.
In a statement.
Announcing the attack.
‘Elves’ general staff said.
That oil products shipped.
From the terminal were.
Being used to.
“Meet the needs of.
The ‘orcs’ occupation army”.
‘Mordor’ illegally annexed.
The peninsula in 2014.
The facility was previously hit.
In an ‘elves’ drone strike in March.
Officials in Kyiv said.
The country's missile forces.
Launched the strike.
On the Feodosia terminal.
— the largest oil processing.
Facility on the peninsula.
— in an attack.
Overnight.
Kyiv has said that its strikes.
On ‘orcs’-energy facilities.
Are fair retaliation.
For ‘orcs’ strikes.
On its own energy infrastructure.
Which have frequently.
Plunged millions.
Into darkness.
At least 80% of.
‘Elves’ thermal power and.
One third of its.
Hydroelectric power generation.
Has been destroyed.
In ‘orcs’ attacks.
‘Gandalf the Green’.
Said in June.
Officials in Kyiv said.
The country's missile forces.
Launched the strike.
On the Feodosia terminal.
— the largest oil processing.
Facility on the peninsula.
— in an attack.
Overnight.
The Crimea blast comes.
As officials in Kyiv said.
The air force shot down.
32 drones.
And two missiles.
Launched towards.
The ‘elves’ capital.
Overnight by ‘orcs’.
Officials in Kyiv said.
The country's missile forces.
Launched the strike.
On the Feodosia terminal.
- the largest oil processing.
Facility on the peninsula.
— in an attack.
Overnight.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine strikes oil depot in occupied Crimea (bbc.com)
Ukraine ports impossible to defend from attack - Odesa chief Kiper (bbc.com)
No.19
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS REVERSING
Shrugging off record-high losses.
‘Orcs’ forces are advancing.
Along several critical axes.
In eastern Ukraine.
The ‘orcs’ have captured.
Selydove, one of.
The towns that previously.
Buttressed ‘elves’ defenses.
Around the fortress city.
Of Pokrovsk.
Meanwhile, accelerating ‘orcs’.
Gains west of Donetsk city.
25 miles.
Southeast of Pokrovsk.
Could result in ‘elves’ forces.
Pulling out of the town.
Of Kurakhove.
Blowing up the bridges.
Over the nearby Vovcha River.
And regrouping behind the rubble.
But there’s one sector.
Where the ‘orcs’ aren’t advancing.
In the city of Toretsk.
30 miles east of Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces are.
The ones advancing.
—albeit not very quickly.
And not very far.
How the ‘elves’ have managed.
To claw back a few blocks.
In Toretsk, a city with.
A pre-war population of 35,000.
Says a lot.
About the battlefield conditions.
In ‘orcs’ 32-month wider war.
On Ukraine.
In short.
It’s as much demolition.
It’s as much demolition.
As combat.
But there’s one sector.
Where the ‘orcs’ aren’t advancing.
In the city of Toretsk.
30 miles east of Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces are.
The ones advancing.
—albeit not very quickly.
And not very far.
In early October.
Close observers of satellite imagery.
Drone feeds and videos posted.
Online by front-line forces.
Noticed something.
Unusual happening.
In central Toretsk.
Where ‘elves’ brigades.
And ‘orcs’ regiments.
Had been locked.
In brutal urban combat.
For weeks.
One of the open-source.
Intelligence analysts.
Noted a pattern.
Of ‘elves’ strikes.
On ‘orcs’ positions.
In Toretsk’s central.
Highrise district.
The heart of the city.
Amid the strikes.
There were signs.
Of close combat.
—evidence the ‘elves’.
—evidence the ‘elves’.
Were following up.
Their bombardment.
With infantry assaults.
After the assaults.
The bombardment died down.
Possibly indicating the ‘elves’.
Had evicted local ‘orcs’ forces.
But there’s one sector.
Where the ‘orcs’ aren’t advancing.
In the city of Toretsk.
30 miles east of Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces are.
The ones advancing.
—albeit not very quickly.
And not very far.
Videos compiled by.
The ‘elves’ 101st Guard Brigade.
In early October.
Seem to depict.
The initial phase.
Of the counterattack.
The videos show.
Drones striking.
‘Orcs’ hiding out.
In doorways, apartments.
And rooftops.
In the highrise district.
One drone observed.
‘Orcs’ infantry.
Retreating following.
A failed local counterattack.
The ‘orcs’ fortified at least.
One highrise, compelling the ‘elves’.
To drop the entire building.
With explosive charges.
But there’s one sector.
Where the ‘orcs’ aren’t advancing.
In the city of Toretsk.
30 miles east of Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces are.
The ones advancing.
—albeit not very quickly.
And not very far.
By last week.
Elements of the ‘orcs’.
109th Motor Rifle Regiment.
Were effectively trapped.
In the highrise district.
“I’m currently in the city center.
In a nine-story building.”
One ‘orc’ officer reported.
In a video he posted.
On social media.
“Constant gunfire.
And here our lads.”
“And here our lads.
Can’t even reach.
The nearby houses.”
The officer said.
He’d been injured.
By falling concrete.
—further evidence of the ‘elves’.
Demolition strategy.
But there’s one sector.
Where the ‘orcs’ aren’t advancing.
In the city of Toretsk.
30 miles east of Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces are.
The ones advancing.
—albeit not very quickly.
And not very far.
Flattening a city.
To save it is.
For the ‘elves’.
A Pyrrhic victory.
But if destroying Toretsk.
Is the price of partially.
Reversing the ‘orcs’ advance.
Along that axis.
The ‘elves’ would.
Gladly pay it.
The alternative.
—another ‘elves’ retreat—
just allows the ‘orcs’.
To advance into.
More towns.
And cities.
But there’s one sector.
Where the ‘orcs’ aren’t advancing.
In the city of Toretsk.
30 miles east of Pokrovsk.
‘Elves’ forces are.
The ones advancing.
— albeit not very quickly.
And not very far.
Halting the ‘orcs’.
In Toretsk won’t.
Save Kurakhove.
Or Pokrovsk.
— those settlements are.
In entirely different sectors.
Tens of miles away.
But how ‘elves’ forces.
But how ‘elves’ forces.
Have reversed.
Some ‘orcs’ gains.
In Toretsk might hint.
At ‘elves’ commanders’ thinking.
As they brace for.
The big battles to come.
In Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
The plan is evident:
Bombard the ‘orcs'.
With drones.
Attack with infantry.
... and topple every building.
The ‘orcs’ might.
Turn into.
A defensive position.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
In Toretsk, Ukrainians Demolish Entire Buildings Filled With Russians
No.20
Kurama
(Japan)
A POET SACRIFICING ALONE
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jujub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!’
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ aa’ll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ Aa’ll tel ye ‘boot ‘the One’.
While the US and ‘Mordor’.
Were busy finalizing.
The biggest exchange of prisoners.
Since the Cold War.
A gifted but little-known.
‘Orc’ pianist was.
Dying in silence.
In jail.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
He had protested.
Repeatedly against.
‘Orcs’ invasion.
Of Ukraine.
And began a hunger strike.
Soon after his arrest.
In May, later.
Refusing water too.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
He died, slowly.
And without publicity.
On 28 July.
- four days before.
A group of better-known dissidents.
Were swapped for ‘the One’’s spies.
Sleeper agents and killers.
Imprisoned in the West.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘You couldn’t have it.
If you did want it.’
After his lonely death.
At a pre-trial detention centre.
In Birobidzhan.
In ‘Mordor’’s Far East.
The 39-year-old was.
Mourned by only.
11 people.
At his cremation.
An independent politician.
In Siberia said no-one.
Had tried to talk him.
Out of sacrificing himself.
Because they hadn’t.
Been aware.
What was happening.
“We couldn’t chip in.”
“And send him a lawyer.
- we didn’t know.”
She wrote on the Telegram.
“He was alone.”
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘That’s the effect of.
Living backwards.’
The YouTube channel.
Where he published.
Four anti-war videos.
Had only five subscribers.
When he was arrested.
His “Foreign Agent Mulder” posts.
Were a reference to.
A character.
In the US TV series.
The X Files.
Which was popular.
In ‘Mordor’ in the 1990s.
And also to a ‘Mordor’’s law.
That allows people.
Considered politically suspect.
To be declared “foreign agents”.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘The rule is.
Jam to-morrow and.
Jam yesterday.
-but never jam to-day.’
‘It’s jam every other day:
To-day isn’t any other day, you know.’
In one clip.
He even appears.
With a hand-drawn.
FBI badge.
His final film.
Released in January,
Addressed the 2022.
Massacre of civilians.
Addressed the 2022.
Massacre of civilians.
By ‘orcs’ troops in Bucha.
A suburb of Kyiv.
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ aa’ll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ Aa’ll tel ye ‘boot ‘the One’.
A few months later.
A Telegram channel.
Close to the secret services.
Posted a video.
Showing masked men.
Leading him.
Into a white minivan.
It added that.
A criminal case.
Had been opened.
Accusing him of making.
A public call to engage.
In terrorist activity.
Which is punishable by.
Up to seven years.
In jail.
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ aa’ll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ Aa’ll tel ye ‘boot ‘the One’.
Nothing more was heard.
Until 2 August.
When the human rights activist.
And the pianist’s friend revealed.
When they revealed.
His death in an article.
Published by.
Online news organisation.
His 79-year-old mother.
Later confirmed.
Her son had died.
Her son had died.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jujub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!’
He was born in Tambov.
Central ‘Mordor’.
Where his father was.
A pianist and educator.
And his mother.
A music school teacher.
He started playing piano.
At the age of two and.
At just 17.
Gave a remarkable.
Two-and-a-half-hour.
Concert featuring.
The 24 preludes.
And fugues.
By composer.
Dmitri Shostakovich.
Later that year.
He was admitted to.
The Moscow Conservatory.
Where the classmate says.
He cultivated.
A “dissident image”.
Often wearing.
A shabby coat.
And black clothes.
With a half-litre bottle.
Of vodka sticking.
Out of a pocket.
Asked in a 2005 interview.
What composition.
He would never perform.
He replied:
“The ‘Mordor’’s national anthem.”
What composition.
He would never perform?
“The ‘Mordor’’s national anthem.”
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
After graduation.
The pianist’s friend says.
He deliberately took jobs.
In smaller cities.
Believing he would.
Have more musical.
And personal freedom.
Outside Moscow.
He moved to Yekaterinburg.
Then Kursk.
And spent three years.
In Kurgan.
A city to the east of.
The Ural mountains.
Before he lost.
His job.
At the philharmonic orchestra.
There in 2022.
The pianist’s friend.
Does not know exactly.
Why he was dismissed.
But adds:
“This was a cog.
That didn’t fit any machine.”
“This was a cog.
That didn’t fit any machine.
And it had been that way.
Since his childhood.”
But ‘the One’ got fat an growed and
Growed, an growed an aaful size.
He’d greet big teeth and a greet big gob
An greet big goggly eyes.
After four months.
Without a job.
He became a soloist with.
The Birobidzhan Philharmonic.
Telling local television:
“If I’m not imprisoned.
Drafted into the army.
Or fired.”
“Then I hope.
To spend the next.
12 years.
With you.”
But ‘the One’ got fat an growed and
Growed, an growed an aaful size.
He’d greet big teeth and a greet big gob
An greet big goggly eyes.
He spent his free time.
Protesting against the war.
In emails to friends.
He described sticking posters.
Around Birobidzhan.
At night.
With slogans angrily.
Denouncing the draft.
And describing ‘the One’.
As a fascist.
He also began.
Staging hunger strikes:
First for 20 days.
In the spring of 2023.
Then for three months.
Later that year.
But ‘the One’ got fat an growed and
Growed, an growed an aaful size.
He’d greet big teeth and a greet big gob
An greet big goggly eyes.
The pianist’s friend says.
He knew the danger.
He was putting.
Himself in.
“It was his solitary protest.
An act by someone.
Who didn't know.
What else he could do.”
She tried to convince.
Him to leave ‘Mordor’.
Or at least.
To perform in Berlin.
Where she now lives.
But they never managed.
But they never managed.
To arrange the trip.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘There’s the King’s Messenger.
He’s inprison now.’
In late March.
He spoke to the friend.
For the last time.
Telling her he felt like.
He was being.
Watched and that.
He “kept seeing.
The same person”.
“Whatever happens, happens:
I'm doing this.
For a reason.”
He added.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘He’s inprison now.
Being punished;’
‘And the trial doesn’t even.
Begin till Wednesday:
And of course.
The crime comes last of all.’
Birobidzhan City Court records.
Contain no information.
About a criminal case.
Against him.
Though there is a record.
Of a non-criminal case.
Of “petty hooliganism”.
Submitted on 20 June.
On 19 July.
He was fined an unknown amount.
But it is unclear whether.
He attended the hearing.
The court then sent him.
A copy of the verdict.
But it was returned.
On 30 July.
With the note.
“Not possible to deliver”.
By then, of course.
He was already dead.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘Suppose he never.
Commits the crime?’ said Alice.
‘That would be all the better.
Wouldn’t it?’ the Queen said.
‘Of course it would.
Be all the better,’ she said:
One independent news site.
Spoke to someone.
Who saw him shortly.
Before he died.
They described him.
As “like a skeleton”.
Who by mid-July.
Could barely walk.
And was “in very poor condition”.
The official cause of death.
Was “dilated cardiomyopathy.
And congestive heart failure”.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘But it wouldn’t be all the better.
His being punished.’
‘You’re wrong there.
At any rate,’ said the Queen:
‘Were you ever punished?’
‘Only for faults,’ said Alice.
After his death.
His mother told other.
Independent news organisation.
That she had tried.
And failed to.
Influence her son.
“I certainly wanted him.
To conduct himself.”
“In a quieter way.
And stay out of.
Politics altogether.
I am very sorry.”
“I am very sorry.
That he gave up.
His life apparently.
For nothing at all.”
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘And you were all the better.
For it, I know!’
The Queen said triumphantly.
‘Yes, but then I had done the things.
I was punished for,’ said Alice:
‘That makes all the difference.’
But the pianist’s friend.
Disagrees saying that.
He knew all along.
That he was risking his life.
So that he could express.
His anti-war views.
“He understood there might.
Have been another way.”
“But by the time.
He had realised it.
There was no turning back.
He knew he was going.”
“He knew he was going.
To go all the way.
– so it wouldn’t turn out.
To be a wasted effort.”
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
‘But if you hadn’t done them,’ the Queen said,
‘That would have been better still;’
‘Better, and better, and better!’
Alice was just beginning to say.
‘There’s a mistake somewhere-.’
When the Queen began screaming so loud.
In death, he has attracted.
More attention than.
He ever received.
In his lifetime.
A book he wrote.
In 2014.
Has quickly been republished.
In Germany.
Once his classmate and a member.
Of the celebrated music group.
Wrote an emotional tribute.
To her “gentle and funny” friend.
And 22 leading classical musicians.
Wrote an open letter to.
Remember a “remarkable artist”.
They had never met.
His most popular clip.
Has now been viewed.
More than 22,000 times.
After his death.
Through the Looking-Glass.
And what Alice found there.
The chessmen were walking about.
Two and two!
A gifted but little-known.
‘Orc’ pianist was.
Dying in silence.
In jail.
While the US and ‘Mordor’.
Were busy finalizing.
The biggest exchange of prisoners.
Since the Cold War.
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ aa’ll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ Aa’ll tel ye ‘boot ‘the One’.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jujub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!’
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Pavel Kushnir: Lonely death of jailed anti-war Russian pianist
No.21
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS BREAKING DOWN
Just before noon one day.
A hardware trader returned.
To his home in Kherson.
In southern Ukraine.
He stepped into his yard.
Lit a cigarette.
And chatted with.
His next-door neighbour.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
His wife of 32 years.
Says she saw.
Her husband run.
And take cover.
As the drone dropped.
A grenade.
“He died before.
The ambulance arrived.”
“I was told.
He was very unlucky.
Because a piece of.
Shrapnel pierced.”
“Because a piece of.
Shrapnel pierced.
His heart,” she says.
Breaking down.
Just before noon one day.
A hardware trader returned.
To his home in Kherson.
In southern Ukraine.
He stepped into his yard.
Lit a cigarette.
And chatted with.
His next-door neighbour.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
He is one of.
30 civilians killed.
In a sudden surge.
In ‘orcs’ drone attacks.
In Kherson.
Since 1 July.
The city’s military.
Administration said.
They have recorded.
More than 5,000.
Drone attacks over.
The same period.
With more than 400.
Civilians injured.
Drones have changed.
Warfare in Ukraine.
With both Ukraine.
And ‘Mordor’.
Using them against.
Military targets.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
“They can see.
Who they are killing.”
Says his wife.
“Is this how they want?”
“To fight by?
Just bombing?
People walking?
In the streets?”
If ‘Mordor’ is found.
To be intentionally.
Targeting civilians.
It would be a war crime.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
Evidence of.
Apparent drone attacks.
On civilians.
Can be seen.
In numerous videos.
Shared on ‘elves’ and.
‘Orcs’ social media.
Six of which were examined.
In each video.
You see through.
The remote operator’s.
Camera as they track.
The movements of.
A pedestrian.
Or motorist.
In civilian clothing.
Often dropping grenades.
Which sometimes appear to.
Seriously injure.
Or kill their target.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
A Telegram channel was.
Also able to be identified.
Which has the earliest public.
Copies yet seen of five of the six.
They were each posted.
With goading and threats.
To the ‘elves’ public.
Including claims.
That all vehicles were.
Legitimate targets and.
That people should minimize.
Their public movement.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
Kherson’s military administration.
Said that ‘Mordor’ has.
Changed the type of.
Drone it is using.
And the city’s.
Electronic systems.
Can no longer intercept.
A majority of them.
Just before noon one day.
A hardware trader returned.
To his home in Kherson.
In southern Ukraine.
He stepped into his yard.
Lit a cigarette.
And chatted with.
His next-door neighbour.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
His wife of 32 years.
Says she saw.
Her husband run.
And take cover.
As the drone dropped.
A grenade.
“He died before.
The ambulance arrived.”
“I was told.
He was very unlucky.
Because a piece of.
Shrapnel pierced.”
“Because a piece of.
Shrapnel pierced.
His heart,” she says.
Breaking down.
Just before noon one day.
A hardware trader returned.
To his home in Kherson.
In southern Ukraine.
He stepped into his yard.
Lit a cigarette.
And chatted with.
His next-door neighbour.
Suddenly, they heard.
The sound of a drone.
Buzzing overhead.
And what happened?
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
On this video: Russian drones hunt civilians, evidence suggests.
Please read the original story:
Drone strikes on civilians suggest new Russian terror tactic in Ukraine
No.22
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS TAKING COVER
“You feel like you’re.
Constantly being hunted.
Like someone is always.
Looking at you.”
“And can drop explosives.
At any moment.
It’s the worst thing.”
Says a woman, who works.
At an aid centre.
Just 1km from.
The Dnipro river.
In Kherson.
To get to the centre.
Without being followed.
By drones.
You drive at a high speed.
Take the cover of trees.
While parking.
And then head indoors quickly.
On a shelf behind her.
A small device confirms.
The threat outside.
– buzzing each time.
It detects a drone.
It buzzed every few minutes.
While you were there.
– often detecting the presence.
Of at least four drones.
“When the leaves fall.
From the trees.
There will be.
Many more victims.”
“Because if you are.
In the street.
There’s nowhere.
To hide.”
Trauma is visible.
On the faces of.
The residents you meet.
Who have braved.
Stepping out.
Of their homes.
Only to stock up.
On food.
A resident wipes her eyes.
“We are in.
A horrible situation.
When we come out.”
“When we come out.
We move from.
One tree to another.
Taking cover.”
“Every day they attack.
Public buses.
Every day they drop bombs.
On us using drones.”
“When the leaves fall.
From the trees.
There will be.
Many more victims.”
“Because if you are.
In the street.
There’s nowhere.
To hide.”
Another woman says.
She was narrowly missed.
By a drone strike.
On her car.
Minutes before.
She was due to.
Get back in her car.
After visiting a friend.
A bomb fell.
Through the roof.
Above the driver’s seat.
Ripping through.
One side of the vehicle.
And leaving it.
A mangled mess of.
Metal, plastic and glass.
“If I’d been in my car.
I would have died.
Do I look like.
A military person?”
“Does my car look like?
A military car?”
She works as a cleaner.
And the car was.
And the car was.
Essential to her work.
She doesn’t have.
The money to fix it.
She says drones.
Are more terrifying.
Than shelling.
“When we hear.”
“A shell launch.
From the other side.
Of the river.
We have time to react.”
“With drones.
You can easily miss their sound.
They are quick.
They see you and strike.”
“When the leaves fall.
From the trees.
There will be.
Many more victims.”
“Because if you are.
In the street.
There’s nowhere.
To hide.”
A man, who runs.
The aid centre says.
Drones spread.
Even more fear.
Than shelling.
Immobilising the population.
“If a drone locks on you.
The truth is it’s.”
“Probably ‘game over’.
At that point.
There’s no defence.
Against it.”
The cleaner says that.
As winter approaches.
The fear of drones.
Will get worse.
“When the leaves fall.
From the trees.
There will be.
Many more victims.”
“Because if you are.
In the street.
There’s nowhere.
To hide.”
In the last few months.
Says a spokesman for.
Kherson’s military administration.
The ‘orcs’ military has also begun.
To use drones.
To remotely drop.
Mines along pedestrian.
Car and bus routes.
He said explosions.
Had been caused by.
Butterfly mines.
- small, anti-personnel mines.
Which can glide.
To the ground.
And detonate later.
On contact.
Butterfly mines.
- which are coated.
With leaves.
To camouflage them.
“When the leaves fall.
From the trees.
There will be.
Many more victims.”
“Because if you are.
In the street.
There’s nowhere.
To hide.”
“You feel like you’re.
Constantly being hunted.
Like someone is always.
Looking at you.”
“And can drop explosives.
At any moment.
It’s the worst thing.”
Says a woman, who works.
At an aid centre.
Just 1km from.
The Dnipro river.
In Kherson.
To get to the centre.
Without being followed.
By drones.
You drive at a high speed.
Take the cover of trees.
While parking.
And then head indoors quickly.
On a shelf behind her.
A small device confirms.
The threat outside.
– buzzing each time.
It detects a drone.
It buzzed every few minutes.
While you were there.
– often detecting the presence.
Of at least four drones.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Drone strikes on civilians suggest new Russian terror tactic in Ukraine
No.23
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS DEFIANT
More than a fortnight.
After falling under.
‘Orcs’ occupation.
The residents of Kherson.
Are wrestling with.
Acute shortages of medicine.
And holding daily protests.
Against the ‘orcs’ forces.
They are also worried.
That increased shelling.
On the outskirts.
Might signal.
The start of an ‘elves’ push.
To recapture.
Their southern city.
Which is a key port.
“But I want people.
To understand.
What's happening here.
I'm in my homeland.”
“I'm in my homeland.
Not doing anything wrong.
I'm trying to protect.
My daughter.”
A series of loud explosions.
Rattled the windows.
Of his office.
In a government building.
In the centre of Kherson.
On Tuesday afternoon.
As the city's deputy mayor.
Was on a phone call.
Busy explaining.
They had less than.
A week's supply of.
Food and medicine left.
“Can you hear?
The shelling outside?
Not far off.
Unfortunately.”
“We're having to.
Get used to.
This terrifying reality.”
He said calmly.
“We're looking at.
A real humanitarian.
Catastrophe here.
We've been left here alone.”
“We've been left here alone.
- there's no other.
Legitimate authority.
Apart from the mayor.”
“‘Orcs’ officials came.
To our office and.
We agreed that we would.
Continue working.”
“But it's not clear.
How long that will continue.”
There have been reports.
That ‘orcs’ might stage.
A referendum in Kherson.
On independence from Ukraine.
- as they previously.
Did in Crimea.
After it was annexed.
In 2014.
As well in the ‘orcs’-backed.
Separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
But he rejected the idea.
Of this happening.
In his city.
Saying it was clear.
There was no support.
For ‘orcs’ actions.
among the largely.
‘Orcs’-language-speaking population.
Video footage showing.
A small pro-‘orcs’ demonstration.
In Kherson has been dismissed.
As an ‘orcs’ propaganda stunt by locals.
“But I want people.
To understand.
What's happening here.
I'm in my homeland.”
“I'm in my homeland.
Not doing anything wrong.
I'm trying to protect.
My daughter.”
On the streets nearby.
There were queues for milk.
And frustration.
In local pharmacies.
Which have reportedly.
Run out of.
Most essential drugs.
“There's no medicine left.”
“There's no medicine left.
For people with.
Heart conditions.
Or asthma.
“The hospitals are working.
But there's just no medicine.”
Said a medic.
Speaking by telephone.
“But I want people.
To understand.
What's happening here.
I'm in my homeland.”
“I'm in my homeland.
Not doing anything wrong.
I'm trying to protect.
My daughter.”
“No-one is starving here.”
Said a local university lecturer.
Who praised.
The mayor's office.
For focusing on trying to.
Support residents of the city.
Without appearing to.
Endorse the ‘orcs’ occupation.
“The situation is quite stable.
We have electricity, water.
And there is central heating.
And transport.”
But she condemned officials.
In other occupied cities.
Who have submitted.
To ‘orcs’ rule.
“If they want to make.
Our city ‘Mordor’’s.
Then it's treason.”
“Then it's treason.”
“But I want people.
To understand.
What's happening here.
I'm in my homeland.”
“I'm in my homeland.
Not doing anything wrong.
I'm trying to protect.
My daughter.”
In Melitopol.
To the east.
The ‘elf’ mayor was reportedly.
Abducted by ‘orcs’ forces.
Last week and.
Has not been seen since.
A local pro-‘orcs’ official.
Has now claimed that.
She is Melitopol's.
New mayor.
And recorded.
A video message.
Urging residents “to adapt.
… to the new realities.
So we can begin to live.
In a new way”.
“But I want people.
To understand.
What's happening here.
I'm in my homeland.”
“I'm in my homeland.
Not doing anything wrong.
I'm trying to protect.
My daughter.”
But in Kherson.
Thousands of residents.
Including the lecturer.
Have continued.
To take part in.
Peaceful daily protests.
Outside government offices.
In the city centre.
Video footage shows.
Large crowds screaming.
“Fascists… have you no shame?”
And “go home” at ‘orcs’ troops.
“The quantity of soldiers.
Is getting bigger.
But they're not military now.
They wear different, grey uniform.”
“Like a kind of police.”
Said the lecturer.
“There were so many people.
At today's protests.”
“That the ‘orcs’ troops.
Started shooting into the air.
It seemed to me.
They were afraid.”
“I was crying to them:
‘Go home, go to your mother.’
Two of the ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Were laughing.”
“I was really furious.
So I just cried out.
Some curse words.
I'm not an activist.”
“But I want people.
To understand.
What's happening here.
I'm in my homeland.”
“I'm in my homeland.
Not doing anything wrong.
I'm trying to protect.
My daughter.”
To the east.
Another key city.
Mykolaiv, has so far managed.
To hold off an ‘orcs’ advance.
Mykolaiv's governor.
Hinted that ‘elves’ forces.
Near Mykolaiv were now.
Looking to recapture Kherson, too.
“Fighting is taking place.
Clearing out several villages.
Of ‘orcs’ forces.
…The occupiers are fleeing.”
“And people all say that.
The troops are running away.
It's true. They run.”
He said in a post on social media.
“Kherson residents.
We are with you.
Wait! Together.
We'll be victorious.”
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Kherson: Russian-occupied city stays angry and defiant
No.24
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS IN ILLINKA
Advancing north from.
The ruins of Vuhledar.
The powerful ‘orcs’.
20th Motor Rifle Division.
— with perhaps 10,000 troops —
Is hammering at.
The 2,000-person ‘elves’.
79th Air Assault Brigade.
Counting on the division’s.
Superior numbers.
To grind down.
The exhausted paratroopers.
The ‘orcs’ goal:
To drive the ‘elves’ brigade.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
In the oblast of.
The same name.
If Illinka and.
Surrounding settlements fall.
‘Orcs’ troops could.
Drive north.
— and surround the ‘elves’.
Garrison in Karakhove.
A key position.
For the ‘elves’ defense.
Of southern Donetsk Oblast.
“The situation is close.
To critical,” reported.
An ‘elf’ drone operator.
The 79th Air Assault Brigade.
“Is under a massive enemy push”.
That began around.
Two weeks ago.
The ‘orcs’ goal:
To drive the ‘elves’ brigade.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
In the oblast of.
The same name.
The paratroopers and.
Their supporting drone units.
Have knocked out potentially.
Dozens of ‘orcs’ vehicles.
—first, factory-fresh BMP-3s.
And then, as the modern BMP-3s.
Began to run out.
Older BMP-2s and MT-LBs.
The vehicular massacre.
On the road toward Illinka.
Has helped drive up.
‘Orcs’ losses to record levels.
An analyst tallied.
A staggering 206 destroyed.
Damaged and abandoned.
‘Orcs’ vehicles.
On Saturday.
He counted just.
49 ‘elves’ losses.
On the same day.
The ‘orcs’ goal:
To drive the ‘elves’ brigade.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
In the oblast of.
The same name.
But ‘Mordor’ has discovered.
A winning strategy.
At a winning time.
And is clearly.
Willing to.
Trade vehicles.
And troops.
For territory.
The strategy is.
Simple but effective.
Simple but effective.
An ‘elf’ journalist explained.
“The ‘orcs’ continue to successfully.
Use the ‘bag’ tactics.
Bypassing our positions.
On three sides.”
“And leaving a narrow ‘throat’.
For retreat.
As a result.
Even in combat-ready units.”
“Encirclement panic.
Often begins.
Which leads to.
The withdrawal of troops.”
The ‘orcs’ goal:
To drive the ‘elves’ brigade.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
In the oblast of.
The same name.
It doesn’t help.
The ‘elves’ war effort that.
Its forces are stretched.
Thin in the east.
While trying to maintain.
control of their.
270-mile salient in.
Western ‘Mordor’’s Kursk Oblast.
That salient.
Which Kyiv may hope to use.
As a bargaining chip.
In any future peace negotiations.
Is under increasing pressure.
Not only from ‘orcs’ troops.
But also thousands of.
North Korean reinforcements.
The ‘orcs’ goal:
To drive the ‘elves’ brigade.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
In the oblast of.
The same name.
The dozen or so.
‘Elves’ battalions.
In Kursk.
Which include.
Some of ‘elves’ best.
Troops and vehicles.
Would be more useful.
In Donetsk.
The drone operator argued.
“While we lose so much ground.
In the Donetsk area.
I am asking myself:
“What I am doing in the Kursk area?
Since the first day of operation.
I was strongly against it.
My opinion hasn’t changed.”
The ‘orcs’ goal:
To drive the ‘elves’ brigade.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
From the village of Illinka.
20 miles west of Donetsk.
In the oblast of.
The same name.
The defense ministry in Kyiv.
Is scrambling to form.
New brigades in order to.
Reinforce the fraying front line.
But the best of these brigades.
Is still in training.
And there aren’t enough.
Modern vehicles to equip them all.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Powerful Russian Division Grinds Down Ukrainian Paratroops In Illinka
No.25
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS ON THE ROAD TO ZARICHNE
To slow them down.
The ‘elves’ 60th and 66th.
Mechanized brigades.
Has deployed anti-tank missiles.
‘Orcs’ forces are advancing.
In critical sectors.
In eastern ‘elves’.
Donetsk Oblast.
Grinding toward.
The fortress city.
Of Pokrovsk while.
Also gradually encircling.
‘Elves’ brigades.
South of Pokrovsk.
And in Terny.
60 miles north of Pokrovsk.
The ‘orcs’ are creeping along.
A row of villages.
Abutting the Zherebets River.
Aiming for Zarichne.
From Zarichne.
The ‘orcs’ could turn right.
And drive on the city.
Of Lyman.
Itself part of a chain of.
Strategic settlements.
Including Siversk.
To the south.
To slow them down.
The ‘elves’ 60th and 66th.
Mechanized brigades.
Has deployed anti-tank missiles.
On or around Sunday.
An ‘orcs’ assault group.
— apparently drawn from.
The 283rd Motor Rifle Regiment —
Rolled south from ‘orcs’ positions.
On the northern edge of Terny.
The second-to-last settlement.
On the road to Zarichne.
It didn’t get very far.
It didn’t get very far.
‘Elves’ anti-tank teams.
Firing anti-tank missiles.
— American-made Javelins and.
‘Elves’-made Stugna-Ps —
Hit at least four.
‘Orcs’ vehicles.
“The ‘orcs’ equipment.
Has been neutralized.”
The 60th Mechanized Brigade reported.
Worse for the ‘orcs’.
Those vehicles were probably.
Packed with infantry.
‘Orcs’ casualties may have been.
In the dozens.
To slow them down.
The ‘elves’ 60th and 66th.
Mechanized brigades.
Has deployed anti-tank missiles.
The mix of missiles.
The mix of missiles.
The ‘elves’ flung at.
The ‘orcs’ is notable.
The 35-pound.
Javelin ranges.
As far as 2.5 miles.
Under infrared guidance.
As evident in the 60th.
Mechanized Brigade’s video.
Of the recent skirmish.
A Javelin angles up then.
Dives down on its target.
In order to strike.
Where combat vehicles’ armor.
Is thinnest: on top.
The 66-pound.
Laser-guided Stugna-P.
Attacks head on.
Meaning it must punch through.
More armor to penetrate a vehicle.
As consolation to its shooters.
The Stugna-P has.
A remote-launch function.
Crews can trigger.
A Stugna-P from a distance.
Helping them to avoid.
Any return fire.
To slow them down.
The ‘elves’ 60th and 66th.
Mechanized brigades.
Has deployed anti-tank missiles.
The 60th and 66th.
Mechanized Brigades are.
Fortunate to have.
Javelins and Stugna-Ps.
As their other equipment.
Is unremarkable:
Soviet-vintage T-64 tanks.
BMP-1 fighting vehicles.
And 2S1 howitzers plus.
Old American-made.
M-113 armored.
Personnel carriers.
A T-64 tried to hold off.
‘Orcs’ attackers in northern Terny.
On Wednesday.
But got swarmed by explosive drones.
To slow them down.
The ‘elves’ 60th and 66th.
Mechanized brigades.
Has deployed anti-tank missiles.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
In Terny, Ukrainians Ambushed Russians With a Deadly Mix Of Missiles
No.26
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS PLOWING INTO KASPIYSK
As Americans were waking up.
To the news that.
Who had won.
The Tuesday presidential election.
At least one.
21-foot robotic sport plane.
Rigged for remote control.
And laden with explosives.
Motored over Kaspiysk.
An anchorage of.
The ‘orcs’ Caspian Fleet.
In Dagestan.
700 miles from.
The front line in Ukraine.
As ‘orcs’ sailors.
Dove for cover.
One of the Aeroprakt.
A-22s.
—apparently operated by.
The ‘elves’ intelligence directorate—
Plowed into.
A clutch of warships.
Moored side-by-side.
Along a pier.
That A-22 droning over.
The Caspian Sea Fleet’s.
Anchorage underscores.
How quickly.
Ukraine has moved.
To expand its portfolio.
Of locally made.
Deep-strike weapons.
According to a former advisor.
To the interior ministry in Kyiv.
The explosion damaged.
Three ships.
Including two.
Gepard-class frigates.
— the fleet’s biggest ships —
As well as a smaller Buyan corvette.
The damaged vessels.
May account for.
Nearly a third of.
The Caspian Fleet’s strength.
The 700-mile raid.
Isn’t the deepest strike.
By ‘elves’ A-22 drones.
But it’s close.
That A-22 droning over.
The Caspian Sea Fleet’s.
Anchorage underscores.
How quickly.
Ukraine has moved.
To expand its portfolio.
Of locally made.
Deep-strike weapons.
Back in May.
One of the 100-mile-per-hour.
Drones struck.
An oil refinery.
In the city of Salavat.
In Mordor’.
More than 800 miles.
From the front line.
The modified sport planes.
Which were developed.
And built in Ukraine.
Are expedients.
‘Elves’ biggest allies.
—the United States.
The United Kingdom.
And France—
Have consistently.
Withheld permission.
For Ukraine.
To use.
American, British and.
French cruise and.
Ballistic missiles against.
Targets inside ‘Mordor’.
That A-22 droning over.
The Caspian Sea Fleet’s.
Anchorage underscores.
How quickly.
Ukraine has moved.
To expand its portfolio.
Of locally made.
Deep-strike weapons.
In order to retaliate.
Against ‘orcs’ own.
Strikes on ‘elves’.
Cities and bases.
The ‘elves’ have.
Had to improvise.
— with an array of.
Locally-made drones.
And surface-to-air missiles.
Tweaked for ground strikes.
The ‘elves’ have.
Had to improvise.
Now, three months before.
The winner re-enters the White House.
That improvisation could assume.
Even greater importance.
That A-22 droning over.
The Caspian Sea Fleet’s.
Anchorage underscores.
How quickly.
Ukraine has moved.
To expand its portfolio.
Of locally made.
Deep-strike weapons.
At the onset of ‘orcs’.
Wider war on Ukraine.
In February.
2022.
The ‘elves’ had zero.
Operational deep-strike weapons.
Now they have several kinds.
More are coming.
‘Elves’ industry.
Partially funded.
By Lithuania.
Recently completed.
Development of.
The turbojet-powered.
Palanytsia “rocket drone”.
A hybrid cruise missile.
That ranges as far as.
400 miles.
That’s not as far as.
An A-22 drone flies.
That A-22 droning over.
The Caspian Sea Fleet’s.
Anchorage underscores.
How quickly.
Ukraine has moved.
To expand its portfolio.
Of locally made.
Deep-strike weapons.
But where the sport plane drones.
Are hand-made.
In small quantities.
On the basis of existing airframes.
The Palanytsia can be.
Mass-produced from scratch.
By ‘elves’ burgeoning.
Drone industry.
The ‘elves’ initially used the Palanytsia.
In combat in August.
Striking unspecified targets.
In ‘orcs’-occupied Crimea.
“I think this will be.
A game-changer.”
The ‘elf’ technology minister.
Said of the new missile.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
A Ukrainian Drone Motored 700 Miles And Blasted Three Russian Warships
No.27
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS BLASTING ALONG THE ROAD TO VYIMKA
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
As ‘orcs’ troops.
Learned on Saturday.
One ‘orc’ blogger.
Moaned in a missive.
“Why do these fools?
In uniform still?
Get to decide?
Who lives and who dies?”
The blogger was referring to.
The disastrous Saturday assault.
By the ‘orcs’ 123rd.
Motor Rifle Brigade.
On positions held by the ‘elves’.
10th Mountain Assault Brigade.
Around Bilohorivka.
In eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
The 10th Mountain Brigade.
Was ready and waiting.
When four ‘orcs’ battalions attacked.
Each with potentially dozens of vehicles.
Normally an ‘orc’ commander.
Would order.
His supporting artillery.
To bombard.
An ‘elves’ position.
Ahead of an attack.
In order to suppress.
The defenders.
For some reason.
The 123rd.
Motor Rifle Brigade’s commander.
Did no such thing.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
“An unprepared attack.
Without accompanying support.
Was doomed to fail.”
The blogger wrote.
Sure enough.
The ‘elves’ blasted.
The approaching ‘orcs’.
BMP fighting vehicles.
And up-armored turtle tanks.
With Stugna-P.
Anti-tank missiles.
And explosive drones.
Leaving at least eight vehicles.
Wrecked or abandoned.
Along the main road threading.
From Bilohorivka to Vyimka.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
Those eight struck vehicles.
Are just the ones.
The 10th Mountain Brigade.
Caught on camera.
There may be many.
More ‘orcs’ losses.
“We suffered heavy losses.
In tanks and.”
“Infantry fighting vehicles.”
The blogger complained.
“With many soldiers killed.
And even more wounded.”
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
Five days later.
The wounded survivors.
Of the failed assault.
Were reportedly still lying.
In a nearby treeline.
Awaiting evacuation.
That showed no sign.
Of coming.
“It’s the third year of.
The special operation.
Yet commanders.
Continue to lie.”
“And make mistakes.
Disregarding the lives.
Of their soldiers.”
The blogger wrote.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
A year after launching.
A powerful counteroffensive.
All along the 800-mile.
Front line of the wider war.
‘Orcs’ forces are advancing.
Along several key axes.
But ‘orcs’ gains.
Along the axis between.
Bilohorivka and Vyimka.
Have been minimal:
A couple of miles.
At most.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
If the recent ‘orcs’ assault.
Is any indication.
Poor leadership might be.
The main reason.
Poor leadership might be.
The main reason.
The ‘orcs’ are underperforming.
In this sector.
And there are few prospects.
For positive changes.
In the command structure of.
The 123rd Motor Rifle Brigade.
The unit’s commanders.
“Are not afraid.
Of punishment.”
The blogger pointed out.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
On an entrenched enemy.
Is dangerous.
A direct attack.
A direct attack.
Without any artillery support.
Is practically suicidal.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Russian Commander Neglected To Order Artillery Support For His Troops
No.28
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS FOCUSED
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
On Tuesday.
That attack finally came.
On Tuesday.
That attack finally came.
— in the form of at least.
14 ‘orcs’ armored vehicles.
Many of them laden.
With infantry.
The attack was one of.
The opening salvoes of.
A long-anticipated effort.
By the ‘orcs’.
A long-anticipated effort.
By the ‘orcs’.
To roll up ‘elves’ defenses.
Around the fortress city.
Of Pokrovsk and.
Nearby Myrnohrad.
25 miles.
North of Kurakhove.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
If Pokrovsk falls.
The whole ‘elves’ line.
In Donetsk Oblast.
Could collapse.
So what happened next.
Outside Kurakhove is.
Good news for Ukraine.
—but potentially fleeting.
The 46th Air Mobile Brigade.
Smashed that initial ‘orcs’ assault.
More assaults are certainly.
Coming, however.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
The column of.
‘Orcs’ vehicles.
Rolled toward.
Kurakhove along.
One of the main.
East-west roads threading.
From ‘orcs’-occupied.
Donetsk city.
Several miles east.
Of Kurakhove.
They ran into.
A wall of ‘elves’.
A wall of ‘elves’.
Mines, cluster artillery.
Explosive first-person-view drones.
And anti-tank missiles.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
The ‘orcs’ column.
Ground to a fiery halt.
‘Elves’ drones dropped.
Grenades on ‘orcs’ troops.
‘Elves’ drones dropped.
Grenades on ‘orcs’ troops.
Fleeing the wreckage.
“We follow, we see.”
“We follow, we see.
We burn,” crowed Gen.
Commander-in-chief of.
The ‘elves’ armed forces.
“The skill of.
The ‘elves’ soldiers.
Leaves no chance.
For the ‘orcs’ invaders.”
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
That’s not even remotely true.
The ‘orcs’ consistently suffer.
Horrific casualties.
While assaulting ‘elves’ defenses.
—and yet keep coming.
Despite losing more than.
A thousand troops who are.
Killed or wounded every day.
On average.
The ‘orcs’ military is still.
Recruiting enough fresh troops.
To make good its losses.
It helps that.
North Korea has sent.
Thousands of its own.
Soldiers to help.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
The ‘orcs’ defeat.
Outside Kurakhove.
On Tuesday belies.
Their overall progress.
In the east.
—and especially in Donetsk.
“The threat of the collapse.
Of the entire southern front.”
“In the Donetsk region.
—now this is already.
A reality.”
One ‘elf’ journalist warned.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
The best outcome.
For the ‘elves’ is.
That Kurakhove holds.
Slowing the ‘orcs’.
And preserving.
The defensive zone.
That protects Pokrovsk.
From encirclement.
The worst outcome is.
That Kurakhove falls.
—and the ‘orcs’ move.
To besiege Pokrovsk.
In the weeks before.
In the weeks before.
The winner re-enters.
The White House.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
As the proverbial storm.
Gathers over Kurakhove.
There’s a thin silver lining.
For the ‘elves’.
According to a report.
The ‘orcs’ focus.
On the axis between.
Kurakhove and Pokrovsk.
Means they’re.
“Losing momentum.
And decreasing activity.
On all other fronts.”
All that really means.
All that really means.
However, is that.
‘The One’ has decided.
That the Kurakhove-Pokrovsk axis.
Is the strategic axis.
In Ukraine.
‘The One’ has decided.
For weeks.
The ‘elves’ 46th.
Air Mobile Brigade.
Has been bracing.
For a powerful ‘orcs’ attack.
On its positions in Kurakhove.
In the southern part of.
Eastern ‘elves’ Donetsk Oblast.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
14 Russian Vehicles Ran Into A Wall Of Firepower Outside Kurakhove
No.29
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS IN VOLNOVAKHA
An ‘orcs’ court.
Has sentenced.
Two ‘orcs’ soldiers.
To life in prison.
For killing.
a family of nine.
In occupied Ukraine.
In a rare example.
Of the country.
Holding its troops.
To account for.
Alleged war crimes.
The family had been.
Celebrating a birthday.
At the time.
Celebrating a birthday.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
Nine people.
Including two.
Young children.
Have been found.
Shot dead in their house.
In the ‘orcs’-occupied.
Eastern ‘elves’ town.
Of Volnovakha.
‘Elves’ officials say.
They believe ‘orcs’ soldiers.
Killed the whole of.
The family on 27 October.
For refusing.
To give them their house.
‘Orcs’ investigators say.
Two male suspects.
Two male suspects.
Have been held.
Saying they are ‘orcs’ soldiers.
From the Far East.
Ukraine and ‘Mordor’.
Have begun separate.
Investigations.
Into the attack.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
The ‘elves’-controlled Donetsk.
Prosecutor's office.
Citing preliminary information.
Said the attackers.
In army uniforms.
Shot the family dead.
After their demand to vacate.
The house had been rejected.
Two children.
Born in 2014.
And 2018.
Were among the victims.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
One ‘orcs’ news channel.
On Telegram.
Earlier quoted.
The victims' neighbours.
As blaming the ‘orcs’ military.
For the killings.
“All of the neighbours.
Are saying that.”
“The killers were.
In the military.
We're all scared.”
One neighbour said.
Another ‘orcs’ Telegram channel.
Said members of.
The household had.
Had “a conflict”.
Had “a conflict with.
Unidentified men.
Wearing military fatigues.
With no insignia”.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
Volnovakha was captured.
By ‘orcs’ forces.
Just weeks after the start.
Of the full-scale invasion.
Of Ukraine in February.
2022.
Most of the town.
Has been destroyed.
Kyiv launched its.
Counter-offensive in June.
Trying to split the occupying.
‘Orcs’ troops.
In the southern Kherson.
And Zaporizhzhia regions in two.
And make their resupply.
More difficult.
So far, the ‘elvres’ advance.
Has been slow and costly.
As the ‘orcs’ have had time to.
Prepare their defensive lines.
In recent weeks.
‘Orcs’ have also been.
On the attack near.
The key city of Avdiivka.
In the Donetsk region.
As well as Kupyansk.
In the north-eastern.
Kharkiv region.
‘Elves’ military says.
All ‘orcs’ attacks.
Have been “unsuccessful”.
Reporting heavy ‘orcs’ casualties.
Around Avdiivka.
— a gateway to the ‘orcs’-held.
Regional capital.
Of Donetsk.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
An ‘orcs’ court.
Has sentenced.
Two ‘orcs’ soldiers.
To life in prison.
For killing.
a family of nine.
In occupied Ukraine.
In a rare example.
Of the country.
Holding its troops.
To account for.
Alleged war crimes.
The family had been.
Celebrating a birthday.
At the time.
Celebrating a birthday.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
Some details of.
The case are unclear.
Such as whether.
The soldiers pleaded guilty.
As the trial was held.
Behind closed doors.
Due to military secrecy.
‘Orcs’ media reported.
They were convicted of.
Killing a 53-year-old.
His wife, their adult sons.
With their wives.
A nine-year-old granddaughter.
A four-year-old grandson.
And a more distant relative.
Of the family.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
‘Elves’ officials.
At the time said.
They believed the family.
Was murdered.
For refusing.
To give up.
Their house to.
The ‘orcs’ troops.
‘Orcs’ state news agency.
Reported that the men.
Had been convicted.
For murder.
“Motivated by political.
Ideological, racial.
National or.
Religious hatred”.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
‘Mordor’ denies all allegations.
Of war crimes in Ukraine.
Despite well-documented.
Evidence to the contrary.
This includes.
The bombing of.
A theatre.
In Mariupol.
Which had been sheltering.
Hundreds of people.
In March.
2022.
‘Mordor’ denies all allegations.
Of war crimes in Ukraine.
Despite well-documented.
Evidence to the contrary.
And this includes.
The killing of.
Hundreds of people in.
The town of Bucha that month.
‘Orcs’ forces are also.
Accused of running.
A network of torture chambers.
Across occupied Ukraine.
Where civilians.
And prisoners of war.
Are tortured and.
In some cases killed.
Blood-splattered and.
Bullet-riddled bodies.
Have been found.
In a private house.
The killings in Volnovakha.
Come as fierce fighting.
Continues on the vast battle front.
Of ‘elves’ eastern and southern regions.
An ‘orcs’ court.
Has sentenced.
Two ‘orcs’ soldiers.
To life in prison.
For killing.
a family of nine.
In occupied Ukraine.
In a rare example.
Of the country.
Holding its troops.
To account for.
Alleged war crimes.
The family had been.
Celebrating a birthday.
At the time.
Celebrating a birthday.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine war: Whole family shot dead in Russian-occupied Ukrainian town
Russia-Ukraine war: Russia jails soldiers who killed entire family in Ukraine
On this video: Family secretly film life in Russian-occupied Ukraine — BBC News.
No.30
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS FILMED
“I saw a robot today.”
My five-year-old daughter.
Whispered to me as I filmed.
Her underneath the table.
“It was flying.
… it wanted to kill me.”
It wasn't clear what.
— if anything —
My daughter had seen that day.
To evoke the disturbing image.
But evidently.
She was unsettled.
My day job had been.
As a local reporter.
Never did I think.
I would be filming.
An invasion of.
My home city.
— the only ‘elves’ regional capital.
To have been captured.
How we shielded my daughter.
From the brutality.
Of ‘orcs’ invasion.
And we ourselves remained sane.
Became central.
To our lives.
As my wife and I grappled.
With our new reality.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
In the first few days.
Our city seemed.
Frozen — I filmed.
The emptiness.
As schools stood closed.
Government buildings abandoned.
And factories and offices empty.
Most people laid low.
The ‘orcs’ forces.
Having taken Kherson.
Were now trying to advance.
On nearby Mykolaiv.
And were shelling ferociously.
We dragged our mattresses.
Into the corridor.
— away from the windows —
And made up games.
To distract our daughter.
I became an expert.
In making shadow puppets.
In making shadow puppets.
With spiders becoming.
My speciality.
My wife and I would.
Whistle birdsong.
To try to drown out.
The noise as.
Our daughter fell asleep.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
The irony is that.
For decades.
Ukraine helped.
Feed the world.
But in those first few days.
We were struggling.
To get hold of.
The most basic items.
“I managed to get.
The last potatoes.”
One man told me wearily.
As I was filming.
In the city centre.
One day in early March.
It was not yet nine.
In the morning.
But the people.
Of Kherson.
Seemed anything but.
Resigned to their fate.
Protests against the occupation.
Began early and grew.
In ferocity over.
The following few weeks.
The ‘orcs’ troops.
Appeared shocked.
— in their minds they had arrived.
As “liberators”.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
I began to cycle.
To an Orthodox church.
Where the local community.
Gathered and from where.
I could help others.
With practical tasks.
I got to know.
Its charismatic priest.
He seemed to have.
A particular energy.
Dashing from one project.
To another.
He was running.
A community centre.
Cafe and mobile hairdresser.
And perhaps most importantly.
Risking his life.
By crossing military lines.
To collect medicine.
No longer available in Kherson.
“It is scary when you're.
Driving and you're shot at.
— you need to get away fast.”
He told me.
This rhythm of relative calm.
Peppered with moments.
Of extreme jeopardy.
Became the cadence.
Of our lives.
And even the periods.
Of calm were gradually.
Becoming more tense.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
Back across town.
Two weeks after ‘orcs’ troops.
First marched.
Into Kherson.
Father made the decision.
To hold a public funeral.
For an ‘elf’ soldier.
Killed in the fighting.
And to livestream it.
For those who.
Couldn't attend.
It was not without risk.
Father acknowledged that.
Honouring a dead ‘elf’ soldier.
Could be seen as a provocation.
By the ‘orcs’ military.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
Meanwhile.
The protests against.
The occupation continued.
And on 21 March.
The mood changed.
The ‘orcs’ military began.
Spraying tear gas and.
Lobbing stun grenades.
Many people were injured.
This was followed by.
A wider crackdown.
A wider crackdown.
Increasing numbers of people.
Were disappearing.
— activists, those with links to.
‘Elves’ authorities, journalists.
Some people.
Were taken.
During protests.
Some from their homes.
Some were released.
Some never came back.
I feared that.
I would be next.
How long before they found?
My messages in a phone?
Belonging to one of?
Those detained?
Or would I be stopped?
And searched?
And my videos discovered?
How long before they found?
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
The following night.
We gathered with.
My pregnant sister.
And her husband.
In the home.
My sister and I had shared.
With our parents.
When we were growing up.
There — at the kitchen table.
Where we had eaten.
Our breakfast as children.
— we discussed the war.
She was checking.
The prices.
Drivers were charging to get.
People out of town.
They started at ,500.
Just to cross the front line.
And travel the short distance.
To Mykolaiv.
Unaffordable, but.
They were beginning.
To feel desperate.
My sister did not want.
To give birth.
Under occupation.
And it was no longer safe.
For her husband.
To go to work.
He managed a private luxury estate.
— hotel, stables and a small zoo —
Out of town.
Which meant navigating.
Several tense checkpoints.
Every day.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
On 30 March.
I again cycled to.
Father's church.
But when I arrived.
But when I arrived.
I discovered that he, too.
Had been taken away.
By ‘orcs’ authorities.
I quickly deleted all.
His messages to me.
And waited nervously.
For news.
That night he posted.
On social media that.
He had been released.
Unharmed.
But my subsequent visits.
To his church.
Suggested a man changed.
— he appeared tired and distracted.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
Over the weeks.
He became increasingly.
Distant from me and.
Others who visited him.
He no longer even.
Went to church.
When I called him.
He told me.
Everything was fine.
But towards the end of April.
He again posted.
On social media.
He revealed not only that.
He had escaped Kherson.
But that he had lied in.
His original post.
He says unidentified.
‘Orcs’ men forced.
Him to kneel.
Gripped his head.
Between their knees.
And threatened to rape him.
Under duress he agreed.
To become a collaborator.
To become a collaborator.
“To be honest.
I'm ashamed.”
He said in his post.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
We began to feel.
Increasingly scrutinised.
From all directions.
From all directions.
Wanting to rebel.
My wife and I celebrated.
Our anniversary.
By breaking into.
An abandoned hotel.
Where we took photos.
Of each other and.
Ate Georgian takeaway food.
We climbed up.
To the roof.
And looked around.
We now saw our city.
We now saw our city.
In a strange new light.
Even the most innocuous.
Details seemed sinister.
The ‘orcs’ forces had stepped up.
Their campaign.
To rid Kherson of.
Its ‘elves’ identity.
‘Elves’ flags and symbols.
Were removed.
Monuments to our heroes.
Destroyed.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
On 6 May.
A senior ‘orc’ politician visited.
The city and announced:
“‘Mordor’ is here forever.”
“‘Mordor’ is here forever.
There should be.
No doubt of this.
There'll be no going back.”
It was all a build-up.
To the 9 May celebration of.
The Red Army's victory.
Over Nazi Germany.
I filmed ordinary people.
In Kherson openly.
Showing their support for the ‘orcs’.
By wearing St George ribbons.
- emblematic of.
‘Orcs’ military triumph.
Within our family.
The pressure was also building.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
My brother-in-law.
Had been visited.
By the ‘orcs’ FSB.
He told me that.
One of the men handed him.
A hand grenade.
Pulled out the pin.
And walked away.
When he returned.
He said laughingly.
That it was.
“Just a joke”.
Another FSB officer.
Told him to report.
With documentation.
So he and my sister could be.
Relocated to Crimea.
They did not, of course.
Want to move to.
‘Orcs’-held Crimea.
This incident brought home.
The fragility of.
The situation.
For all of us.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
The couple packed up.
And prepared to leave.
The next day.
And we realised.
It now made sense.
For us to leave.
With them.
We packed frantically.
We wrote information.
About our daughter.
Including who.
Her guardians would be.
If we didn't survive.
On a piece of paper.
Which we hid in.
Her library card holder.
We hung it.
Around her neck.
We sped out in convoy.
With my sister.
Nervously navigating.
One jittery checkpoint after another.
— uncomfortably close.
To the front line.
And then, after.
34 checkpoints.
We spotted an ‘elves’ flag.
The colours of freedom.
The same colours as.
The fields of yellow rapeseed.
And blue skies.
We were now driving through.
Nothing had been the same.
Since ‘orcs’ soldiers first marched.
Past our window.
In the late afternoon.
Of 1 March.
And I began filming.
Our lives for.
A documentary.
Five months on.
The family are living in Kyiv.
His sister gave birth.
To a baby boy.
Source: https://www.koryu-meets-chess.info/
Please read the original story:
Ukraine war: We secretly filmed our lives in occupied Kherson
No.31
Kurama
(Japan)
POETS REUNITED BY A “HEROINE”
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
They were in.
A municipal holiday home.
Near the sea.
Where they had been sent.
For fresh air.
And general wellbeing.
It quickly became.
Too dangerous to collect them.
With heavy shelling.
In towns along.
The route from their home.
To where the children were.
She faced an impossible choice.
— sending her husband.
On a perilous drive.
To rescue them.
Or leaving the children.
In Mariupol.
Where they had gone.
For their break.
At that time.
At that time.
It still seemed.
Relatively secure.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
“We started panicking.
And didn't know.
What was the best thing.
To do,” she says.
The complete destruction.
Of Mariupol.
Would later.
Become synonymous.
With ‘orcs’.
Carpet shelling.
Of cities.
Into submission.
The brutal reality of war hit.
Home after just two days.
When she encountered refugees.
From the east.
She was shocked.
To see how quickly.
Normal life.
Had deteriorated.
Like many people.
In Ukraine.
She assumed the war would stop.
Within days or weeks.
And hoped the children.
Would be evacuated.
To a safe area.
By the ‘elves’ authorities.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
It soon became clear.
That the conflict was.
Intensifying and the children.
Were extremely vulnerable.
If they were not killed.
By an explosion.
She worried for their future.
Under ‘orcs’ control.
Reports started.
Emerging of civilians.
Both adults and children.
Being transferred to ‘Mordor’.
‘Mordor’ called.
These transfers “evacuations”.
While Ukraine branded them.
Forceful deportations.
While Ukraine branded them.
Forceful deportations.
Reminiscent of practices.
Under Stalin in the 1940s.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
The couple began adopting.
In 2016.
By February this year.
When the war started.
They had seven adopted children.
Aged six to 17.
This was in addition to.
Their two biological children.
“We are crazy people.
But we like it.
Children give us emotions.
Which we wouldn't.”
“Which we wouldn't.
Otherwise have.
- life was empty.
Before them,” she says.
She worked as.
A children's music teacher.
And her husband.
A miner.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
Their life was happy and full.
But at the beginning of March.
The family was fragmented.
And scared.
Electricity at the sanatorium.
Which was being shelled.
Was cut off and.
Children could no longer.
Children could no longer.
Charge their phones.
Meaning she could not.
Speak to them.
At their own home.
In the eastern town.
Of Vuhledar.
The family too sheltered.
The family too sheltered.
In their basement.
As the war moved closer.
As the war moved closer.
“We were bombed.
And bombed.
All around.
It's scary,” she says.
They decided to drive.
To Zaporizhzhia.
Where they knew some people.
From Mariupol were being evacuated.
Hoping the ‘elves’ authorities.
Would arrange.
For the children.
To be taken there too.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
But the city was.
Not safe.
But the city was.
Not safe.
With no sign.
Of the children.
The family decided to move.
Further west to Lviv.
There, a new problem.
Arose with concerns.
Her husband.
Would be drafted.
Into the army.
Reluctantly.
They decided.
To flee Ukraine.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
Less than two weeks.
After the war started.
The couple and their remaining.
Three children were refugees themselves.
— but she says.
She never gave up.
Hope of getting.
The children back.
The family were in Germany.
Deciding where to relocate to.
When they next heard.
From the children.
They had been transported.
To a part of Donetsk region.
Controlled by.
Pro-‘orcs’ separatists.
Where they were placed.
Into a TB hospital.
This was because.
They had arrived from.
A sanatorium used to.
Recuperate respiratory patients.
Social services told the children.
They had been abandoned.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
The eldest child.
17-year-old boy.
Was able to charge.
His phone and texted her.
He said he had been.
Offered chances.
To leave on his own.
But rejected them.
To care for his siblings.
And was angry.
She had left Ukraine.
“I understood.”
“They couldn't come.
And get us from Mariupol.
But that they had gone abroad.
Really triggered me.”
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
Feeling helpless.
She continued to post.
On social media.
Asking for help.
And information.
About her children.
But mostly received abuse.
Many accused her of.
Not trying hard enough.
To rescue the children.
And even more criticised.
Her for leaving Ukraine.
Accusations and suggestions.
That she could.
Abandon her children.
Hurt her deeply.
She spoke to.
The international media.
To reiterate her message.
“I tried every way.”
“To publicise our situation.
Hoping that someone will.
Hear something and.
Be able to help,” she says.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
Meanwhile, the couple.
Were deciding where.
To settle in Europe.
They picked the small town.
Of Loue in north-western France.
Where they set up.
New lives.
With jobs and a house.
Subsidised by.
The Red Cross.
Large enough for.
All the children.
The town's mayor.
Had invited ten ‘elves’.
Refugee families.
To settle.
With special efforts.
With special efforts.
Made to accommodate.
Foster families.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
By early April.
She and her eldest boy.
Established a routine of speaking.
On the phone most evenings.
Which helped to repair.
The relationship.
It was a question of.
Waiting and hoping.
The Donetsk social services.
Would agree to release.
The children.
Which they did.
But it was not that simple.
They would only give them.
To their legal guardian.
— her herself.
And she would.
Have to return.
To the place.
She had just fled.
“I was a refugee.
Running away from.
The ‘orcs’ Federation.
And now I would go into.”
“The ‘orcs’ Federation?”
She scoffs.
For a while things seemed.
To be at an impasse.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
The Donetsk social services.
Were demanding she send.
The children's birth certificates.
To prove their identity.
But she worried.
This would lead to them.
Being put up.
For adoption.
This fear had.
A real basis.
‘Orcs’ TV regularly.
Broadcasts upbeat reports.
On the “evacuation”.
Of civilians from.
The “liberated” regions.
Of Ukraine.
Kyiv says it is.
Forceful deportation and.
In the case of orphaned children.
Is tantamount to kidnapping.
In May, ‘the One’.
Issued a decree “simplifying”.
The issue of ‘orcs’ documents.
To children from Ukraine.
‘Elves’ Foreign Ministry protested.
Labelling it a violation.
Of the Geneva convention.
Of human rights.
Earlier this month.
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Up to two million ‘elves’.
Had been forcefully.
Deported to ‘Mordor’.
Deported to ‘Mordor’.
Hundreds of thousands.
Of them children.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
Then there was.
A glimmer of hope.
In June, she received.
A phone call.
There was someone.
In Donetsk.
Who could bring her children.
To western Europe.
An experienced volunteer.
In Donetsk who had worked.
With orphaned children.
And vulnerable mothers.
For many years.
Had a working relationship.
With the authorities.
And was willing to help.
The couple gave.
The children's documents.
To the volunteer along with.
A release form.
Making her their temporary.
Legal guardian.
They had to take.
A leap of faith.
But she says.
It felt right.
The process still.
Wasn't simple.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
They only knew.
At the last moment.
That the paperwork.
Had gone through.
And they would soon.
Be back together.
The volunteer travelled with.
The children to ‘Mordor’.
Then to Latvia.
And Germany.
Each border crossing.
Was nerve-wracking.
“They all have different surnames.
The original of.
The release form.
Was in French.”
“I had to explain.
Our situation.
Over and over to.
Countless border guards.”
Says the volunteer.
She took the children.
As far as Berlin.
Where she handed them.
Over to the children’s father.
Who drove them.
To their new home.
In Loue.
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted children.
Who were visiting.
The seaside.
100km away.
From home.
The family's reunion.
After four months of.
Uncertainty and anxiety.
Was exceptionally emotional.
Tears were mixed.
With laughter.
As first her husband.
And later she.
Crushed their kids in hugs.
Still not believing.
They were seeing them.
For real.
She kept hugging.
The children, saying:
“Let me look at you.
Let me just look at you!”
“You grew so much.
I haven't seen you.
In such a long time!”
“In such a long time!”
Their eldest boy.
Held back from showing.
Too many emotions:
“I am very glad.”
“It all worked out.
But I am also older.
So I don't show.
How happy I am.”
“I am glad we are all.
Together again and.
I kept my word and brought.
The kids to the parents.”
As she was alerted.
To the invasion.
Her first thoughts were.
For her six adopted child