This Ukrainian soldier is videoing himself as he walks along. He describes his feelings for his daughter and a stray, gentle dog who wanted to be with him. I really hope that he managed to find this dog again. It seems farfetched to expect the relationship to last under these circumstances. It is all so transient. A soldier’s life in war is all about the here and now. The future is so uncertain. It would be nice though if this soldier managed to stay with the dog until this bloody invasion ended in defeat for Russia. The sooner the better.
Even during the fiercest battles, our soldiers remember the most important thing – their children. For whom they bravely fight. In Bakhmut… and along the entire front line. pic.twitter.com/1CeKirqV14
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 30, 2022
Note: This is an embedded tweet. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.
The video is so nice though. He is thinking of his beloved daughter and the dog he befriended with the crushing sound of artillery in the background and ever present. Horrible and frightening. There was mutual comfort for dog and person.
There are many examples of Ukrainian soldiers befriending dogs and cats. The dogs become working animals helping to keep a lookout for the enemy. That said there are tens of thousands of dogs and cats left homeless by the war as their owner is killed or they are abandoned while their owner makes their way to one of the adjacent countries, usually Poland to escape the war.
Around an estimated 400,000 animals have been killed or died in this war apparently. 300,000 was the estimate months ago. I have topped up that figure.
Below are some more articles on the Ukraine war in relation to animal welfare.
Russia guilty of ecocide in their illegal invasion of Ukraine
Fawn suckles on the ear lobe of a Ukrainian soldier on the front line
Russia uses crude circus animal tricks to entertain emotionally bruised kids in occupied Ukraine
What is ecocide?
