Ukrainian soldier rescues pets from battlefield

An «animal-loving» Ukrainian soldier and her husband, a fellow fighter, began rescuing pets after finding abandoned animals at the front.

Oksana Krasnova, 27, uses her military pay to buy food and supplies for the animals’ recovery before arranging their transport in military vehicles to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, where they find new homes.

Before Russia invaded the country six months ago, Krasnova worked as a lawyer in the capital. She then joined the Ukrainian front-line defence and began fighting in the Donetsk region.

Krasnova and her 35-year-old husband, Stanislav Krasnov, have rescued nearly 30 animals while passing through abandoned villages between their assignments as snipers.

Krasnova expressed her love of animals and the fact that she and her husband had already been helping with animal rescues before the Russian invasion. In the course of carrying out her duties, she comes across many abandoned pets that she simply cannot leave behind.

While it is difficult to remove the animals from the front, these poor creatures are used to living with people and cannot survive on their own.

Krasnova has pets of her own, cared for by her parents in Kyiv, and would never consider abandoning them. According to Krasnova, the first abandoned animal she rescued during her deployment at the front was the most unforgettable rescue she has had so far.

Abandoned pets

As the couple explored an abandoned house, they heard strange noises and discovered a small black dog trapped inside.

When they found the animal, it was, according to Krasnova, «clearly traumatised» and had been living on raw potatoes.

She estimates that the dog had been living there for about a month. Krasnova was distressed. The couple placed a pillow under the dog's head as he simply lay on the ground, barking, whimpering, and foaming at the mouth.

The dog had to be squeezed into a crate and driven around by the couple in a military vehicle.

The couple did not believe the dog would survive because he was having seizures. Until his condition improved, Krasnova fed and cared for the dog every hour.

The poor dog was taken in by a friend of hers who works with traumatized animals in Kyiv and has some volunteers. The dog is now doing well and has been living with a foster family for several months.

Krasnova explained that while she occasionally helps smaller animals such as birds and rabbits – which she usually releases back into the wild once they are healthy – her primary focus is rescuing dogs and cats.

According to Krasnova, they currently have a herd of pigs from one of the neighboring villages where they are stationed. The soldiers make sure the animals are well and have enough to eat, even though the couple cannot rescue all the animals, as they would not all fit in their military vehicles.

The couple's lives have been greatly enriched by the animals they have rescued, and even when Krasnov was injured and strapped to a stretcher for treatment, a little kitten came to him.

According to Krasnova, the animals they have rescued are truly grateful and affectionate. She spends a great deal of time caring for the animals, and sometimes saying goodbye is genuinely hard for her. She is nonetheless relieved that they will no longer have to starve and suffer.