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Ukraine (Remove filter)

What we know on Day 1,621

The metal comes a-raining down

On its mean nightly spree,

And some more are dead or wounded

Who did not need to be;

 

Those at the front who quake with fear

Crouch in a silent plea,

And, spotted like a sitting duck,

Are bombed and shelled with glee;

 

This gruesome feast of agony

Could spread to you and me,

And those who are responsible

Will still get off sco...

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DestructionImpunityUkraineWar

Rope

We found the old man, swinging from a rope;

It seems he couldn’t take it anymore.

It seems he had outlived his memories;

He’d had two sons, both victims of the war.

 

This is reality: young lives are snatched

And parents, seeking solace, see no point

In playing games alone in this grim light,

When others seek new martyrs to anoint.

 

It’s what invaders deal in every d...

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FutilityLossUkraineWar

Weather

Never mind the weather;

There are twenty seven dead.

Some dirty, stinking cowards

Dropped missiles on their head.

 

Never mind the weather:

The sunshine, cloud and rain.

The swine are filling up the sky

With lethal toys again.

 

Never mind the weather;

The outlook is quite clear.

The murderers are saving up

More death to piss down here.

 

Never mind the...

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InjusticeKyiv 2 July 2026MissilesMurderUkraineWar

Playing in Pain

On the day of the recital

A warhead crashed down on our house.

Three of my family died

And only I survived,

But, though I shan’t find peace again

That very evening

I played, in pain.

 

The music did what music does;

I gave them Mozart, Bach and Brahms.

Soon grief seemed not to matter,

As all fell back into its arms,

And evil turned to trivial

As wonder filled

...

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couragemusicresiliencetragedyUkraineWar

They Took Away The Children

They took away the children;

They put them in a car.

We asked where they were going;

They said to us: ‘Quite far’.

 

They took away the children;

They put them in a van.

We asked them why they did this;

They said: ‘Because we can.’

 

They took away the children;

They put them in a truck.

We asked why they should suffer;

They said to us: ‘Tough luck’.

 

...

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AdductionRussiaRussificationUkraineWar Crimes

Ukraine Trilogy

Gibberish

 

If all those dying in the fray

Were laid from end to end,

They would stretch for many a mile

And no doubt grievously offend,

Behind their desks so far away,

The same men talking gibberish

With a sickly, spray-on smile.

 

As it happens

 

No one needed to die today

But, as it happens, sixteen did.

Of the usual bagged variety:

Men, women and so...

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HopeInvasionLiesResilienceSufferingUkraineWar

Dead Screen

                    Dead    screen

                    Dead     scream

                    Dead    lies

                    Dead     truth

                    Dead     count

                    Dead     screen

                    Dead     scream

                    Dead     buried

                    Dead     life

                    Dead     hope

 

           ...

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donald trumpIranIsraelIsrael. GazaLebanonnetanyahuukraine

The Early Bus (Casualties of War)

A village in decline,

Where young do not come back;

The old folks keep on ageing:

This is a one-way track,

 

Which is not new, of course;

It was forever thus:

Tear-stained sons and daughters

Would board the early bus.

 

But this time gaps appear,

Whose like we never saw;

The thin supply dissolves

In casualties of war,

 

For boys arrive home wrapped

A...

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CasualtiesDepopulationRussiaUkraineWar

Outskirts

As the first one fell,

They all shouted: ‘Missed!’

 

As the second one fell,

They all shouted: ‘Missed!’

 

As the third one fell –

 

Enraged, he drove to the outskirts,

Eager to conjure up the words

For death throes of expired luck,

To paint the smell of burning flesh.

 

But no words arrived. Nothing came.

Remains were pulled from the remains.

 

Late...

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AnniversaryExpectationPoetryPublic OpinionUkraineWar

You Say You Want Peace

You say you want peace,

So silence your guns,

Roll back your tanks;

Don’t drop your bombs

Or send off drones.

Don’t mock the blood

Of the fallen,

Their savaged skulls

And shattered bones.

 

You say you want peace,

So unclench your fist.

You need to show

A little love,

And to be kind

And not to maim,

Destroy or kill.

But, sad to say,

I doubt you...

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MurderNegotiationsTerrorismUkraine

Whisper from Ukraine

Her habit, during nights deprived of peace,

Of dark skies savaged by the usual crowd,

Was to tell the world in her loudest voice:

‘For God’s sake, listen; this madness must cease!’.

But no one did, although she shouted loud.

Close by, stunned citizens with no choice

Took comfort in the echoes of her scream,

While they browsed damage as though in a dream.

 

Today she was ...

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bombingdestructionhoperesistanceUkrainewar

Letter from Ukraine

I think I heard a foreign leader say:

‘I haven’t focused on this for a while’;

But I must focus on it every day

And cannot fake concern or flash a smile.

 

I put my kids into the shelter’s care

And pray no missiles fall upon my place;

Each night time’s challenge is to grab some share

Of soothing sleep, with each new dawn to face.

 

My husband is still fighting at the ...

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DestructionFearUkraineWarWaste

Peace Deal

They say that we should get in shape

And learn to take it on the chin,

Stiffen our sinews, grit our teeth;

‘Believe it, brothers, you can’t win’.

 

They say there is no difference

Between righteousness and sin;

‘It could just be that might is right’,

They tell you with their trademark grin.

 

They say we have our work cut out

Just to protect our kith and kin;

Su...

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CapitulationUkraineWar

Winners

(Maternity Ward – Ukraine)

 

Caesarean by torchlight,

Windows spraying shards,

Husband killed in fighting,

She holds no more cards.

 

Shifted while in labour,

Infant on a drip,

Ordeal terrifying,

Fights to keep her grip.

 

The doctors and the nurses

Deliver in the dark,

But sometimes the destruction

And the death are just too stark.

 

In Moscow th...

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BombingMaternity HospitalUkraineWar Crimes

Blitz

When Hitler’s blazing bombs crashed down,

And you fought the flames with zeal,

Imagine if some man-child screamed:

‘You gotta make a deal!’

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CourageSurrenderTACOTrumpUkraine

GOOD NAZIS - BAD NAZIS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAZIS?

what NAZIS?

I see no NAZIS!

not the type of NAZIS

which meet with MY dissaproval

not the bespectacled type who shout

“Achtung”! and “vee haff vays off makink you talk”

not the NAZIS in our playground games of “goodies and baddies”

not the ones who wore World War Two helmets

not the type who routinely raise their a...

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GAZANAZISSPAINUKRAINE

Stats (To be continued)

I had a quick glance at the stats,

At these cold additions of shame;

The dead are piled high with the wounded,

And we all know who is to blame.

 

It doesn’t seem to worry him;

That victims were daughters and sons,

Whose parents will not see again

Their cherished, most beloved ones.

 

Because of one man’s vanity,

These young lives have gone up in smoke.

If he had...

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UkraineWar

The Anchorage Gambit – Reflexive Control

On August 15, 2025, Putin and Trump are going to meet in Alaska, a stage for reflexive control, the concept devised by Wladimir Lefebvre. The KGB-trained Russian leader will manipulate Trump, shaping his desires to serve Moscow’s goals, all in full view of the world.

A dead man’s work now joins the meeting’s glare,
Lefebvre’s design, a trap disguised as care.
The KGB had honed this patient ar...

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Alaska summitcontemporary poetrydiplomacygeopoliticsKGBpolitical manipulationpsychological warfarePutinreflexive controlTrumpUkraineWladimir Lefebvre

(Half-) Baked Alaska

There’s a summit in Alaska,

With Don and his mate Vlad.

They’re going to talk about Ukraine;

The omens are quite bad.

 

They’re due to feast on gourmet food;

Their hot thirsts will be slaked,

But any deal that’s hammered out

Is bound to be half-baked.

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Baked AlaskaPutinTrumpUkraine

Smiles (For the People of Ukraine)

You almost bleed your smiles these days,

Like acting out a tiny death;

Though your pinched faces still resist,

You have to measure every breath.

 

I notice, each time that you cry,

Your tears no longer flow, they spill.

Do those inflicting this foul mess

Consider what they really kill?

 

I see you trying to join in fun,

Whenever someone makes a joke,

But laughte...

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PeaceUkraineVictory

Meanwhile, Back in Ukraine (June 2025).

Having your windows blown out

And your face cut by the glass,

And seeing your neighbours' daughter

Blown in the air and tumbling,

Minus one leg, next to their dead dog,

Ranks as pretty low grade stuff now.

Let’s face it, it’s not nuclear, with madcap types

Talking of Hiroshima and obliteration.

Having said that, it’s not exactly nice here

There’s a war on, you know.

 

...

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CasualtiesUkraineWar

Lines of Love

I wrote these lines of love, my dear,

Before the cold days of the war.

When you were near, so near, my dear;

When I was close, so close, to here,

And no one knew what lay in store.

 

Now all these lines have chilled, my dear,

Though love remains, strong as before.

Now you are far, so far, my dear,

While I am shivering with fear;

And all we can expect is more.

 

...

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LoveUkraineWar

Tube Shelter

I think that the artist got it spot on.

This is man at his most basic:

Trapped in the eternal tunnel,

 

With no beginning, no end, no escape,

Vulnerable like never before.

The place is a shelter, of course,

 

But could easily be a slaughterhouse,

Fried in fat if the walls don’t hold.

Try to imagine the pitch dark.

 

Just how has humanity come to this?

Cowerin...

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Henry MooreTubeTunnelUkraineWar

Enemy

The metal’s falling

From the sky, like rain.

A warped ambition

Terrifies Ukraine,

As someone, somewhere,

Swells up with disdain,

While his practised sneer

Dishes out the pain.

And the world knows well

That he won’t explain,

But that, sure as hell,

He’ll be back again.

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SlaughterUkraineWar

Performance (Kryvyi Rih 5.4.25)

Twenty dead so far……..

 

I wonder if they get an extra mark

For killing kids or snuffing babies out?

On their twisted scale of staff incentives,

Perhaps their bonus swells at all such scalps;

Perhaps their backs are slapped at each week’s end.

They say that talks for peace are well on track,

But we see little sign of it round here.

We feel the foul, malignant breath of b...

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SlaughterUkraine

Detritus

The odd small child has copped it,

A writer here, a pensioner,

And, just around the corner,

An engineer.

 

It’s the same old detritus of war;

Keep moving now,

There’s nothing to see,

Nothing to fear.

 

The single mum with stumps for legs

Has made somebody’s day,

Just like the school and hospital,

Each with rooves blown away.

More detritus, but life goes on...

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DronesMissilesUkraineWar

Give Her Back: A Sonnet For Liberty

To Glucksmann, this no longer fits with Trump’s current policies. The U.S. president is taking harsh action against immigrants, among other things. Since his inauguration on January 20, thousands of migrants have been arrested and deported to their countries of origin. The U.S. rapprochement with Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine is also likely part of the background to Glucksmann’s dema...

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authoritarianismdemocracyDonald TrumpEuropean Parliamentfreedomimmigrationinternational relationslibertypolitical valuesRaphaël GlucksmannStatue of LibertysymbolismUkraine

Kryvyi Rih

Civilians lie, annoyingly dead,

Innocent prey of the enemy’s sport,

While wannabe gods in Washington cry:

‘You losers! We told you. It's all your fault.’

Others in Ukraine, spared till now, await

A shabby, hardly necessary fate,

And wriggle in the web where they are caught.

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BetrayalTragedyUkraine

The Vineyard

A cemetery, you may think, but

No bodies lie beneath, just roots;

No unattested arms remain,

No pairs of sweaty, unclaimed boots.

 

Quite soon there will be vines and grapes,

And then the succulence of wine;

No trace of blown-off body parts,

Detached by shell shot or by mine.

 

The volunteers who tend the place

Sense no souls planted underground;

They prune and ...

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TragedyUkraineWar

The Staged Betrayal

In a calculated spectacle, Trump and Vance sought to humiliate Zelenskyy before the press, twisting truth into propaganda. Their goal? To paint Ukraine as ungrateful, to justify betrayal, and to sell capitulation as "peace." Behind them loomed Putin, tightening his grip as Trump bent to his demands. This wasn’t diplomacy—it was deception, staged for the American people and the world.

 

Tru...

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betrayalcapitulationdeceptionhypocrisypress manipulationpropagandaPutinTrumpUkraineVancewarZelenskyy

Oval Office

There are no allies any more,

No friends, no foes,

No right, no wrong,

No good, no bad;

Just bully boys who'll take you

For everything you had.

 

 

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TrumpUkraineZelensky

Unyielding Heroes

Today, three years ago, Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine, shattering peace and unleashing a wave of destruction. Towns were levelled, lives torn apart, and a nation thrust into an endless struggle for survival. Despite the relentless violence, Ukraine remains unyielding, its people refusing to surrender. The world has watched as the cost in blood and suffering continues to rise, and ...

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brutalitycouragedefiancedestructionfreedomhopelossresilienceresistanceresistance spiritsacrificesovereigntystrengthsufferingsurvivaltragedyUkraineunyieldingwarwar anniversarywar crimes

United or Doomed!

This poem reflects the urgent and growing tensions Europe faces—internally divided and externally threatened. With rising dangers from Russia, China, and a shifting American stance, it paints a vivid picture of the consequences of inaction.

Europe, listen—time runs thin, The storm is howling, wars begin. Trump builds walls, his hunger grows, Grabs at lands where cold wind blows. Not jus...

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betrayalChinadefenseEuropeFicoMeloniNATOOrbanpoliticsresistanceRussiasurvivalTrumpUkraineunityuprisingUSAwar

Spare Change

They no longer carry coins.

They have wads of notes to spare,

But their instinct is to throw crumbs,

Or bits of half-eaten sandwiches.

They tell you to perform

One of those cute local dances,

Or to sing ‘Streets of London’,

Or playing a tune on the violin.

Or better still, sit up and beg,

Say how goddam grateful you are,

And hand over anything you’ve got,

Explainin...

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AppeasementBullyTrumpUkraine

A Deal Among Devils

As the Trump-Musk regime steers the U.S. into the arms of dictators, Europe stands at a crossroads. This poem is an outcry against betrayal, against backroom deals that sell out Ukraine, against the glee of China as it eyes Taiwan, and against the creeping infection of authoritarianism within Europe's own borders. Curtis Yarvin’s sick vision—a world where democracy is crushed under the boo...

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authoritarianismChinaCurtis YarvindemocracydictatorshipEuropeMuskNATOresistanceRussiaTrumpUkraine

The Sunshine Boys

The Sunshine Boys are chatting on the phone;

They claim that they are both concerned with peace.

But one of them is raining down his bombs,

While body counts on both sides still increase.

 

The other one appears not to remember

Who started this barbaric slice of hell;

He treats the culprit as a valued partner

And seems to have been captured by his spell.

 

The victims...

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PutinSell outTrumpUkraine

Forgive, Not Forget

A time will come when we forgive,

Though that time is not yet;

But even when forgiveness comes,

None of us will forget.

 

We won’t forget the agony,

The sadness and the waste;

We won’t forget the insults hurled

With puerile lack of taste.

 

We won’t forget our cities wrecked,

Our soldiers blown to bits;

We won’t forget the fearful nights,

The lethal missile h...

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forgivenessPeaceUkraine

Pinpoint

In sleep I see the nail

Pass through the yielding flesh;

Jesus knew about that.

 

But we are skin and bone,

Already. No reserves

Of fat or of muscle.

Bare bones. No resistance.

Every strike and rumble

A nail, hammered, pinpoint,

Into the joints and cracks.

The torment forcing us

Towards strange submission.

 

Soon we could be up there,

On the cross, con...

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FreedomUkraineWar

Moon over Ukraine

The moon shines up above:

New, crescent, half, gibbous, full,

Waxing, waning,

Dodging behind a scudding cloud.

Its complete repertory,

Its whole thing.

 

At least they’ll never get the moon.

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Ukraine

No One's Fault

This used to be my street,

This used to be my home,

This used to be my land.

I do not understand

And cannot fathom why

Things got so out of hand,

So much has been destroyed,

So many had to die.

 

These simple-minded times

Have carved the perfect tool

To camouflage the truth

And take us for a fool.

 

It turns out that this war

Is no one’s fault at all.

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A Thousand DaysUkraineWar

1000 days

The fractured walls of wickedness in war

Are on display each day at any time.

The morning tittle tattles rise and fall

And poets churn out verses in sweet rhyme,

But somewhere, here or not so far away,

A child is killed by missiles from above,

A mother grieves for her departed son

And husbands weep for what they think was love,

While no one makes the evil men account

For...

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Ukrainewar

Allowance or 'Dim Don Junior'

You don’t need much brains to share a tweet

(Tech Bros will help you if you can’t).

Just flash up vile messages on your screen

And give them a big MAGA slant.

 

Insult a battered country and its chief,

Say that his time is almost up,

And inform him that all future funding

Will be dropped in a paper cup.

 

Here’s what the tweet said, in more precise terms:

Ukraine’s...

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MAGAUkraine

Cheeky Chap

Never mind the wounded,

Never mind the dead;

Shake hands with the cheeky chap

And pat his shiny head.

 

Never mind the blood

That’s dripping from his hands;

Kneel right down and grovel

In front of where he stands.

 

The cheeky chap is on a roll;

The BRICs are dancing to his tune.

A warrant waits for his arrest,

But might as well be on the moon:

 

For t...

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BRICsUkraine

God

At every corner of the world I turn,

I come across the stink and shape of death

And dodge the battered buildings to keep safe.

Yet still I hear the noisy men of war

Talk euphemistically of grades and gain,

Assuring us that all they want is peace.

Sad to relate, that treasured bird has flown;

From this time on, our God is on his own.

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peaceUkraineWar

Langue de Bois

In the language of communiqués, we say:

‘We will do whatever it takes’,

But in Kyiv, Kharkiv or Kramatorsk,

As nighttime falls and warheads once again

Wend their way between wide-open cracks,

The heart of one more mother breaks.

 

And our reply? ‘Look at the big picture;

This sort of thing is anecdotal.

A tiny fraction of the total.’

 

Pah!

From inside each plus...

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Ukraine

Meanwhile, in Ukraine

What are we fighting for?

Ukraine will win this war.

By gambit or caprice,

Ukraine will live in peace.

 

Though enemies have tried

To dent a nation’s pride,

Their onslaught is defied.

Ukraine will win this war.

 

Though cities crash and burn,

The displaced will return,

And conflict will adjourn.

Ukraine will live in peace.

 

For freedom will prevail

...

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Ukraine

My Enemy

Maybe my enemy enjoys a joke,

When seated round a table with his mates.

I can believe that he’s a decent bloke,

Except when the demand of war dictates.

 

Perhaps he likes his football at weekends;

His mother might still bring his cup of tea.

Yet now it’s captured land that he defends,

And if he’s ordered he will shoot at me.

 

Our paths may well have crossed when we w...

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UkraineWar

Business (A friendly face)

I took one in the back,

And fell down on the ground.

I sought a friendly face,

And saw one that I knew,

Approaching me at pace:

A pal from student days,

Now on the other side.

‘I’m not to blame,’ he says,

And shoots, in the same place.

‘It’s business, it’s not you.’

His words seemed quite profound,

(I don't think I replied)

Yet they took me aback,

As I lay th...

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UkraineWar

Kursk (A provocation!)

We feel bad about our provocation;

We didn’t mean to cause you such upset.

Of course, you are innocent and blameless;

Our troops were only sent in for a bet.

 

Our little strategic incursion

Was even-handed and sincerely meant.

There was no wish to violate your borders;

No malice was contained in our intent.

 

Wait a second, though! At provocation,

You’ve shown you...

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FutilityUkraineWar

Appeasement

It’s never going to work;

 

You do deals with the tough,

But soon he’ll cut up rough

And do his dirty stuff.

He just can’t get enough.

 

He’s never satisfied

Until your flame has died,

Snuffed out by his dark side.

By then his grin’s as wide

 

As some cream-licking cat.

Though preaching peace and that,

His word is worthless tat;

He’ll rase your homeland...

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DictatorUkraine

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