Met so many furballs in Izium today! They were under occupation for 7 months, barely surviving. Electricity is coming back now, but many pets have no home left. The two black cats are being taken care of by a Ukraine army battalion whose commander loves cats! We left them food.👇
A contingent of cats live by the main pedestrian bridge in Izium. This little guy walked across with me to get food, jumping on the benches and meowing at me along the way. We gave cat & dog food to the soldiers guarding the bridge so they can keep feeding. #CatsOfUkraine 🇺🇦 👇
Of course, there’s also a lot of great cat art in Izium! #SlavaUkraini 👇
But the amount of destruction caused the Russian occupation of Izium is really hard to fathom. Nearly every single building has some damage, many completely destroyed. Life is slowly returning and residents are cleaning up—many people were out in the central square receiving aid.
This is Victor, who was eager to show me how they survived occupation (with the cats!). They cooked outside, a smaller grill was dedicated to coffee. They stored vegetables from the garden in the cellar, next to where they slept. It was horrific, but he’s happy they’re now free.
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A happy story to share: This is Nadiya 🐕 who I met while delivering pet food in the frontline 🇺🇦 city of Lyman. She was homeless & living in the cold streets. Today she’s resting & watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean with her new family in LA! Here’s how she got there:👇
The Hachiko team was able to find Nadiya in the streets and get her all checked out at the vet. She received her microchip and rabies shots. Nadiya is super sweet and was born under occupation—surviving the battle to liberate Lyman. Understandably, she’s scared of loud noises.
Following a long journey across Ukraine 🚂 with stays in Kyiv and then Lviv, Nadiya crossed into Poland and made it to Krakow airport for her first flight ✈️ Her new dad Christian met us on arrival in the US—and Nadiya was very happy to get some belly scratches! 🐶
UPDATE about the 🇺🇦 cats (and dogs)! Today I visited Sviatohirsk to deliver 500lbs of pet food. This is Irina’s house where she takes care of 38 cats & many dogs. There are pets wandering all over Sviatohirsk & other newly liberated cities in eastern Ukraine—and help is needed.👇
A few of the #CatsOfUkraine I met today! 🐱🇺🇦 That’s Sviatohirsk Monastery—and the rubble of the bridge. Access to here and cities like Lyman, Bakhmut & Izium is limited, so there are only a few volunteers like my friends Katya & Sergiy helping the pets. I asked what we can do.👇
Food need is huge in liberated areas, but also for vets & evacuating pets from the frontline. Volunteers are risking their lives rescuing cats & dogs. So we’re going to establish a fundraiser to help cover costs. In the meantime, I setup a PayPal link: paypal.com/donate/?hosted… 👇 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The horrors faced by families escaping Mariupol & nearby cities are unimaginable. I’m at a reception center that’s their first stop—some waited at Russian checkpoints for 2 days & cars arrive shot up. @WCKitchen delivers meals here & today I brought baby food. #ChefsForUkraine 🇺🇦
It’s a miracle these families were able to get out after being fired upon. Many cars in the parking lot of the reception center are marked with bullet holes and broken glass.
Volunteers at the reception center are truly heroes. Every day they show up to support families in this dark time. I asked if they needed anything beyond food, and Lina told me one of their two microwaves had broken—so we brought a new one!