05/31/2026
A Long Rescue From The Pokrovs'ke Region (9-10 May 2026)
Animals Evacuated - 10
Animals Helped - 25
Supplies Distributed - 100kg
What turned into a close to 30 hour mission began around 0600 the morning of 9 May. Requests had come in from a village near Pokrovs'ke in the Zaporizhia Oblast, which was roughly five and a half hours from Kharkiv over some typically bad Ukrainian roads. The plan was a hopeful one, which was to find animals running loose that had been left behind, catch them, and then take them to Poltava where the owners would come pick them back up. There was one slight problem in that the animals were not contained and there had been sightings of them in multiple locations around the home where they lived. We were also going to check the site of the CAB strike that had occurred the day before which had killed several people.
Coming into the village it was clear that the Russians were doing the same thing here that they are in many other locations. They just fire into the village and slowly render it to rubble while killing and wounding as many people and animals as they possibly can. Homes on almost every street were damaged or destroyed, and there was fresh strike damage everywhere.
The first of four pins was to pick up a cat for a resident who evacuated. She spooked and ran during a shelling, and a neighbor had the cat waiting for our arrival. She would be reunited that evening with her very happy owner. We then went to a home looking for another dog and several cats who were not there when we arrived. Next came a location with multiple dogs and cats who also had fled during shelling, but the neighbors were not able to get them caught and loaded up. The first was a female Spaniel who did not take much convincing to load up into the van. She was clearly ready to go and wanted to get in without any prompting. She was obviously used to going in the car, and knew it was her way out.
Searching nearby we found two kittens and then two more adult cats who were a bit more uncertain about leaving than the Spaniel was. But we managed to get them loaded in crates and into the van with a little help from the locals, who were appreciative of us taking them to safety. Then it was back to the house where the dog and cats could not be located to search some more. The dog was nowhere to be found, and neighbors said they had not seen it in several days after airstrikes. It is possible they did not survive. Just then a gray cat popped up onto the fence of the yard, and thankfully came when called. We got that one loaded and then thankfully the second one popped out shortly after, which we managed to catch and get into crates. We would come back one more time after going to the next location to look for the other dog if time and safety allowed for it.
The drone detector was now beginning to go off with greater regularity as there was increased activity in the air all around us. On the way to the location of the CAB strike, it was almost constantly alarming. When the van arrived at the location of the strike, it was clear that cleanup had not yet taken place. There was debris everywhere in the roads, with shop windows broken everywhere and not yet covered with wood. Walking up to the scene of the blast it was clear that it was an almost direct hit to the building, as the hole was less than 50ft away from the structure itself. All of the balconies had been damaged or blown off, and every window was gone, allowing clear views into the apartments and lives of the people who had called the building home.
I started to do a cursory walk around the area trying to determine where I wanted to start my search, when I saw him for the first time. He was cowering under the folded in half entrance door to the building, and was clearly disoriented. I called to him and he did not respond. But he came to me and was not afraid of people. It was then that I heard "Butsyk..... Butsyk!" from the ladies. Through translator I learned from Victor that Butsyk was his name, and his family was killed in apartment 7 as they watched him from their window. He had just gone downstairs to go outside when the blast hit, and was about 25ft or so away from the impact location.
Victor and the ladies asked for me to please take him, so I put him on a leash to walk to the van. It was clear that he could not hear, and when I went to load him into the van he screamed in pain. His poor little body was battered and bruised from the blast, but he was alive. He was going to need vet care and a checkup, which would be provided the evening after arriving back to Kharkiv. You can see Butsyk's rescue story at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1LaDnZvebe/
Once everyone was loaded up the delivery process began. We had one stop near Zaporizhia to drop one cat off before the long drive to the Poltava Oblast began. In the middle of the night and well after curfew we arrived more than an hour and a half northwest of Poltava to drop everyone off. After some concerns and confusion were overcome, all of the animals except Butsyk were offloaded before we started the drive back to Kharkiv. Heading back on the roads the sun was coming up over the horizon, and we arrived into the city around 1100 on the 10th. After a stop to pick up a few things for Butsyk, we headed back to my apartment where he fell asleep on my uniform and where he stayed with me for the remainder of the trip.
The following evening, Butsyk was seen at the vet and had a large mass removed from his front right leg. That story can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CzT3M1Zj6/ . We are happy to report that he is doing well and we will see him again on our next trip and work on the documents for him to leave Ukraine and head to a new fur-ever home.
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