KHARKIV, Ukraine - Ukrainian defense volunteers were captured feeding family pets left behind in Kharkiv after their owners were forced to evacuate amid Russia’s ongoing war in the country.
In a video shared on May 17, 2022, the service members are seen in the residential neighborhood of Saltivka feeding several cats.
This particular neighborhood has been "heavily shelled" during the Russian assault, according to freelance journalist Sergio Olmos, who captured the footage. "Ukrainian territorial defense volunteers have been coming to look after the pets of families who evacuated," Olmos wrote in a tweet.During the video, a voice describes one of the cats as being "expensive" compared to the others.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is located near the Russian border, has undergone weeks of intense shelling. But Russian troops were withdrawing from around the city in recent days and instead focusing on guarding supply routes, while launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern province of Donetsk, according to the Ukrainian military.