Themes by tag: animals

Mykhailo Rusin, a candidate of biological sciences and senior researcher at Kyiv Zoo, has dedicated his career to protecting European hamsters. He runs the Center for the Reproduction and Renewal of Rare Species and founded the Hamster Rescue Center.

Recently, his efforts were featured in the National Geographic, which highlighted his work under the headline: “A scientist is saving Ukraine’s hamsters—in the middle of war.”

Rusin has been working to protect these rodents since 2019. The European hamster, listed in Ukraine’s Red Book of endangered species, once survived the Ice Age but now faces extinction. In Ukraine, the species still lives in some regions, where it inhabits gardens, summer cottages, and homesteads. Yet many are killed by people who see them as pests, or by cats and dogs that hunt them.

The Hamster Rescue Center works to protect the animals by relocating them from private plots to areas away from people. The ongoing war has created additional challenges: blackouts in winter can leave hamsters without heat, while in summer, power outages can cause dangerously low ventilation, threatening their survival.

Journalists can learn more about Rusin’s work and, by prior arrangement, speak with him in Kyiv.

• animals
• Kyiv

Maksym Kharkivskyi is a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier serving in the Zaporizhzhia sector. In the spring of 2023, a bull found its way to his position. His comrades sent a message: “You have visitors”, and the soldier saw the animal walking along a mined path towards them. That same day, Maksym and a comrade evacuated the bull, named Martyn, to a safe location. Maksym started posting videos with the animal on TikTok, and Martyn became popular.

Shortly after, the soldier’s comrades rescued a wild boar: the animal had been injured by enemy shelling. Maksym took the boar in and named her Mashka. After recovering, she became a social media star alongside Martyn. A malnourished roe deer, found in a Kyiv forest, also joined “Maksym’s Ark”, as the soldier calls his animal farm. The young animal had lost its mother, so caring people fed it from a bottle and later contacted Maksym for help.

Thanks to the animals’ popularity on TikTok, Maksym manages to meet his unit’s needs — the soldier hosts live streams to raise funds. Over five streams, he managed to raise enough to purchase 100,000 hryvnias worth of drones. Maksym calls his animals military volunteers. He hopes that after the war, people will visit the farm to meet the animals and learn their stories.

Interviews with Maksym Kharkivskyi can be arranged online or in person, by prior appointment.

• animals
• military
• Zaporizhzhia

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion by russia, he defended the country. In September 2022, he sustained severe injuries and lost both legs. He received prosthetics and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. Subsequently, he returned to work as a veterinarian in Odesa.

Oleksiy joined the national team that represented Ukraine this year at the first-ever Winter Hybrid Invictus Games in Canada (disciplines: curling, skeleton, alpine skiing, rowing on simulators). He also participated in the All-Ukrainian wheelchair rugby competitions. Additionally, he practices archery and wheelchair basketball.

Upon prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Oleksii in person in Odesa or online.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

Ukraine’s sole military veterinary facility, the First Military Hospital of Veterinary Medicine, operates in Khmelnytskyi. Its veterinarians provide care not only for service animals but also for the pets of displaced families. The hospital regularly treats animals with concussions or shrapnel wounds.

The hospital’s specialists also travel into frontline and recently liberated areas to rescue animals, making more than 50 such trips so far. One survivor is a fox from Bucha, discovered by children and brought to the doctors. Despite burns covering nearly 80 percent of its body, the animal was saved and still lives at the hospital.

Altogether, the hospital’s team has treated several thousand animals since the start of the full-scale war.

• animals
• doctors
• Khmelnytskyi

A can’t-miss celebration for pet lovers and their furry friends comes to Kyiv on September 27. 

This year’s gathering carries a major fundraising goal: raising 500,000 hryvnias to support Mariupol volunteer Mykhailo Puryshev. Once an entrepreneur, Puryshev has spent the past three years rescuing both people and animals from frontline areas, evacuating them from areas subject to constant enemy fire and delivering food and medicine.

The program includes a pet-friendly fair, speed dating for owners, an introduction to canine therapy, educational talks and discussions, creative workshops, lighthearted competitions for pets, and an evening of stand-up comedy.

For reference: The picnic is organized by the media platform #Shotam, known for covering positive news and stories, together with its partner Holy Doggy, a project dedicated to promoting canine therapy.

• animals
• culture
• Kyiv

Mykhailo Purin, 62, hails from Odesa but was in Kyiv when russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, he worked as a journalist, contributing articles to a Ukrainian media outlet. When the first explosions shook the capital, he volunteered for the army, drawing on his prior experience as a medical instructor in the Soviet military to serve in a similar role with the Navy’s river flotilla.

During his service, Purin patrolled rivers and participated in combat missions in the Kherson region, particularly around Krynky. After several years on the front lines, he retired in August 2024 upon reaching retirement age. Rather than settling into a quiet pensioned life, he sought a role that would give him purpose.

With guidance from Lobby X, an organization supporting veteran employment, Purin explored opportunities that aligned with his passions. He first took a position at Pethouse, a company specializing in pet food and shelter support, where he now manages supply chains. Beyond his day job, he volunteers with UAnimals, helping rescue and evacuate animals from conflict zones.

Purin is available for interviews both online and in person in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• animals
• military
• Kyiv

The STEP Animal Adaptation Center in Ukraine’s Lviv Oblast is now sheltering 200 dogs. A small village is being built for them, complete with streets and houses. The kennels are designed for comfort, staying cool in summer and warm in winter.

The first house was funded by a donor from the United States, who requested a portrait of his own dogs on the building. Philanthropists from the United Kingdom and Ukraine contributed to the construction of the other houses.

The village shelters animals rescued from war zones, including the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson, and Sumy regions.

The Center’s mission is to rescue animals, provide them with safe living conditions, and help them find new homes. Plans are also underway to establish a psychological and rehabilitation hub at the site for service members, their families, and children with special needs.

Journalists can visit the Adaptation Center in the Lviv region by prior arrangement. Remote interviews with its representatives are also available.

• animals
• Lviv

Kyiv Hippodrome has pioneered a first-of-its-kind adaptive equestrian discipline for veterans — harness racing in lightweight, two-wheeled carts called “kachalkas.” Launched just over a month ago, this innovative program already has five participants and recently held its first demonstration race. This discipline is not yet officially recognized in Ukraine.

Harness racing sessions for veterans take place three times a week and are free of charge.

Journalists can cover training sessions in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

Background: The Kyiv Hippodrome also offers horseback riding sessions for veterans twice a week.

• animals
• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv

A herd of nineteen horses and foals remains at an abandoned equestrian complex in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, where stable hand Oleksii Boliukh, unpaid and undeterred, has been caring for them since the owner fled during the russian occupation.

The facility, once a bustling hub for equestrian sports, was left without management in 2022. Its owner disappeared just a day before Ukrainian forces reclaimed the territory. With no one left to oversee the complex, Boliukh stayed behind, feeding and tending to the animals amid shelling and shortages.

When the full-scale invasion began, there were 28 horses at the complex. They endured months of bombardment, occupation, and hunger. Some were wounded. Lacking proper nutrition and care, the animals’ survival depended on the resolve of Boliukh and the help of a few volunteers, including a local community police officer.

Now, more than three years into the war, the herd has shrunk, some horses have been evacuated to safer areas, but 19 still remain. Several were born during the fighting, under the thunder of nearby artillery. The surviving animals are under legal arrest, as criminal proceedings have been launched against the absentee owner, who left them without proper documentation.

Volunteer Robert Sargsyan has become one of Boliukh’s most crucial allies. He built a stable 60 kilometers away from the abandoned complex and has been helping evacuate and care for the horses, ensuring they receive food, shelter, and medical treatment.

Despite the chaos of war and the legal limbo surrounding the horses’ status, Boliukh and Sargsyan continue their efforts to protect the animals. 

Interviews with Oleksii Boliukh and Robert Sargsyan are available in person by prior arrangement.

• animals
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv
• evacuation

Before russia launched its full-scale invasion, Yuliia Bondarenko and her fiancé lived in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. When russian forces seized control of the city in 2022, the couple endured three months of occupation. It wasn’t until May 2022 that Yuliia made the difficult decision to flee.

During the evacuation, she brought along her two cats, two dogs, and an additional animal rescued from a local shelter. The family eventually settled in Kryvyi Rih, where Yuliia began a new chapter, embroidering her first traditional shirt. Her husband was engaged in volunteer work, and that very shirt was offered as a gift in exchange for the largest donation. It ended up in the hands of a German supporter.

In addition to shirts, Yuliia began crafting traditional embroidered belt pouches, popularly known as “little pockets.” Each piece features embroidered images of animals, honoring and reflecting on the struggle of animals from the left bank of the Kherson region, many of whom were injured or killed during the ongoing fighting. All proceeds from the sales go toward supporting a local animal shelter and purchasing food for stray dogs and cats in Kherson.

She named the project Silence of the Steppe. Today, her embroidered shirts and pockets travel far beyond Kryvyi Rih, finding new homes not only across Ukraine but also abroad, particularly among displaced Ukrainians who cannot yet return.

Yuliia Bondarenko is available for interviews by appointment, both online and in person in Kryvyi Rih.

• animals
• culture
• occupation
• women
• Dnipro