The bus depot in the village of Bilohorodka was rarely in use. No one could say for sure when a van covered in brightly colored fabric appeared there. It seemed to be a circus van. It was heavily rusted. There was a bucket next to it, and someone had poured some sawdust on the bottom of the load space.

Once close to the van, a surprise awaits: Two bears are sitting in the back, each locked in a rusty cage about a square meter in size. The cages could barely fit the animals themselves.

This is exactly what animal rights activists saw when they arrived in the village of Bilohorodka in the Kyiv region in 2015. The owner introduced them to his “stars” — bears Yulia and Zoya. The animals worked in the entertainment industry, and after each performance, the bears used to get back to their cramped cages.

What happened to Yulia and Zoya next? How did the circus life affect the mental health of these animals? In this article, we are looking for answers to questions about the lives of Yulia and Zoya in particular and circus bears in general.

How and where did animal rights activists first encounter Yulia and Zoya? 

“I remember that day very well. It was June. There was a truck at the depot, not a very big one, more like a food truck. The cages were small, so they stood side by side in this van. The owner was also there. It seemed that he was a handler, but it was not clear. He didn’t tell us much,” recalls Taras Boiko, director at FOUR PAWS Ukraine. The organization still has the bear owner’s phone number, but the only thing you can hear by dialing it is “This number is out of service.”

It is not known for certain whether someone noticed the bears and informed animal activists or whether the owner himself contacted them. At the time, an expert on bear behavior, Maryna Shkvyria, was working as a consultant for FOUR PAWS, which supported a bear shelter in the village of Berezivka (Zhytomyr region). “I got a call from Yana Renk, an animal rights activist,” Maryna recalls. “Yana is no longer alive. She was killed by russians in the first days of the full-scale war. She told me about the van with the bears. She said the owner was willing to give them away. I took a taxi there, took a picture, and sent it to the organization’s management. They got it and replied, ‘Let’s take them.’”

Then FOUR PAWS staff came to Bilohorodka and signed an agreement with the owner to transfer the animals under their care. One of the signatures belonged to Taras Boiko, who recalls the words of Yulia and Zoya’s former owner. He was a young man, and he told Taras, “I can’t keep them anymore. They are of little use because they are old and sick. So take them away.”

The bears were loaded into transportation cages and brought to Berezivka. In 10 days, the enclosures were prepared, and the bears were eventually able to go there.

Four years later, Zoya and Yulia were relocated to the BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr, where they live today.

What was the state of the bears’ health?

Back in Berezivka, Zoya had many of her teeth removed, which had been previously damaged, as she ground them against the bars. Yulia had similar issues, so she also had to have her teeth treated.

Zoya was diagnosed with a whole set of problems: liver cirrhosis, bladder inflammation, a broken finger and claw, severe neurological disorder, and epileptic seizures. In addition, they found out that the bear was almost blind.

Both bears exhibited pathological behavior. They had severe stereotypic behavior.

“Yulia shifts from paw to paw and shakes her head,” says Olya Fedoriv, marketing manager at the BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr. “When visitors see this, they are happy that ‘the bear is dancing’. It is important to emphasize that this is a sign of stress, and it is not fun at all.”

Animals often respond to stress by making repetitive movements. Something similar happens to people. When nervous, some unconsciously twiddle their thumbs, some bite their nails or pencils, some rock from side to side. People with autism can repeat monotonous movements under stress. This is called stereotypic behavior. It also occurs in animals living in poor environments and cramped conditions. An animal starts walking in a circle, moving back and forth along the fence, shaking its head, or scratching itself. An elephant, a horse, a bear, a wolf, or a parrot can behave like this. When an animal has something to distract it, the behavior may not interfere with its life. The situation is different when it lives in a confined space and its days are filled with absolutely nothing. In this case, an animal can fixate on this behavior, often to the point of harming itself or ignoring other stimuli. Even when such an animal has a choice of what to do, it will not immediately overcome stereotypic behavior.

It may take a long time for an animal to give up its obsessive behavior and, for example, go exploring the enclosure.

It is usually not possible to completely overcome stereotypic behavior, especially in older animals. However, experts try to at least reduce its manifestations. For this purpose, they use so-called enrichment enclosures. There are special toys that stimulate the animals’ curiosity, make them move, and distract them from the behavior.

Olya Fedoriv shares what enriches the enclosures at Domazhyr, “We have a wooden box inside which an animal caretaker puts food. The bear has a very developed sense of smell. It smells the food and tries to get it. Bears do not break the box. They try to interact with the toy and eventually realize which board needs to be moved to get the food out. There is a wooden drum with a hole on top where an animal caretaker puts the food. The bear knows that he has to spin the drum and put his paw inside to get the food out.

There are bars to climb on, and some can be laid down on. And there are those on which food is laid out, and bears have to get it out. There are wooden balls, and animals love to play with them. If someone shows a strong manifestation of stereotypic behavior, animal caretakers react by throwing nuts with honey to the bears. The bear catches the smell, gets distracted, and goes looking for the nuts.”

What other circus animals have ever lived at Domazhyr? 

Even before Zoya and Yulia, a circus bear named Khrystyna lived in Domazhyr. She had been one of the first residents of the sanctuary. She is no longer there. Khrystyna died last year. However, it’s important to tell her story. Her autopsy showed many severe chronic diseases.

Khrystyna was a Himalayan brown bear. She had beautiful sandy fur. “This subspecies is used in the circus because the bears are small and compact. They are easier to transport and control,” explains Natalia Halayko.

Khrystyna was seized from her owner in August 2017. Natalia recalls, “The bear lived in a traveling circus. The owner traveled all over Ukraine. He transported neglected Khrystyna in a cramped cage. He would put skirts and all kinds of other outfits on her, and she would perform circus tricks. There is a village called Ivano-Frankove not far from us, and he came there with a performance. Back then, the ban on keeping wild animals in traveling circuses was in place. Animal activists, together with the police, seized the bear.”

There was an inflamed area on the animal’s neck, completely without fur, a place from which the collar had not been removed for years. Khrystyna was diagnosed with many chronic diseases. She suffered from arthritis, arthrosis, and had a severe stereotypic behaviour. Khrystyna had glaucoma in one eye, which had to be removed. The bear’s teeth had deteriorated, so the staff bought food for her that she was able to chew.

Khrystyna got used to her enclosure well. She loved to swim and bask in the sun. However, her chronic illnesses still bothered her. Two years ago, Khrystyna began to get very sick and was suffering a lot. At Domazhyr, it was decided to euthanize her. Khrystyna was 27 years old.

Why do circus animals have so many diseases?

When bears are kept in private animal collections, most owners cannot provide adequate nutrition, explains Natalia Halayko, deputy director of the BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr. The animals live in cramped cages, and their sedentary lifestyle is harmful to the musculoskeletal system. A circus animal is under constant stress: bright lights, lots of people, noise, applause, music, lots of smells.

Natalia Halayko explains, “It is clear that the bears from circuses were abused in their places of living. They have serious problems with vision, hearing, and severe stereotypic behavior.”

Sometimes in circuses or hunting stations, animals are harmed deliberately. Domazhyr staff does not recall any cases when someone was caught in the act, however, such abuse is clear from the conclusions of veterinarians who examined the bears. Natalia tells us, “Our Zoya is blind. Veterinarians assume that the bear could have been blinded on purpose so that it would not react to bright light. For example, sometimes animals are beaten with sticks on the cervical spine, which disrupts innervation. If we compare the health of a circus bear and an animal that was simply kept in a cage, the health of circus animals is much worse.”

It is not so easy to find out how an animal actually lived before it came to the rehabilitation center. “If an animal is forcibly seized, it is often not even possible to meet the owners, let alone learn in detail about the animal’s life. The owners do not always show up for a removal procedure. Sometimes they say, ‘You can come, and a representative will be there.’ We take the animal and that’s it.”

Bears used in the entertainment industry do not hibernate. This also affects the bear’s health. The processes in its body do not happen in a way that is natural for the species. “In the wild, it can happen that a bear does not finish eating and then does not go to sleep. But this is very rare. Next year, such a bear can go to sleep for the winter. However, in captivity, bears have no choice. They simply are not allowed to sleep year after year. Physiological processes are disrupted. During the winter sleep, the skin on the paws should regenerate, and fat should be burned off little by little until spring. But none of this happens.

In winter, bears don’t eat anything in the wild. In the spring, the animal eats a little, then the mating season begins and it loses weight. The bear starts eating a lot in August. By winter, the animal can increase its weight by up to 40%. In captivity, everything is different. Zoya and Yulia were very thin, and sometimes bears in captivity are overfed, and this also harms them.”

How have Zoya and Yulia settled in at Domazhyr?

Zoya’s enclosure is designed to allow her to move freely. She lives alone. It is dangerous to place her with others. The bears may fight, and this is a big risk for a blind bear.

Yulia is a totally different case. Two years ago, she was transferred from the adaptation enclosure to a big one. Bears Mania and Kvitka live in the neighboring one. “Perhaps Yulia will be able to socialize and live in a large enclosure with Mania and Kvitka,” Natalia hopes. “Mania and Kvitka also used to live separately. Now they eat together and sleep together. As for the relationship between them and Yulia, there are better days and worse ones. We hope that they will become friends. This is the fourth year of socialization. We are taking baby steps.

Socializing bears sometimes takes years. If successful, they live together. This improves their quality of life.”

Does a bear have a personality?

Of course, and what a personality it is! “The bears’ personalities are very different,” says Olya Fedoriv. “Some of our bears are very calm. They walk around slowly, and they are in no hurry. There are also active ones that run around from the early morning, then take a little nap in the afternoon, and then run and play again.”

Zoya is a sensible lady. She enjoys sniffing everything and often lifts her head up to smell the air. Yulia loves to play with the enrichments and demonstrates bizarre poses. Olya Fedoriv even created a special series of posts on social media called Yoga Poses by Yulia. The bear is especially fond of a log suspended on chains. Olya says, “She lays down under the log and starts shaking it with her four paws! Or she likes to sit in the pool. She sits there for a long time. She likes to put her face in the water, and only her eyes are visible. I call her ‘a crocodile’.”

Everyone in Domazhyr has their own preferences. For example, bear Masha is known for her love of tomatoes, and bear Potap loves fish. Zoya’s favorite food is bananas. Yulia is not a picky eater — she likes everything.

How does a bear mind work?

Natalia Halayko explains, “The bear’s intelligence is somewhere on the level of a dog.

The bear has a very good memory. 80% of the bear’s diet consists of plants, so they need to move through bushes where there may be berries or other food. So they create their own routes. Bears think over where to go for food.

Bears raise their cubs very attentively for two or three years. A bear can take in another bear cub if it is an orphan. It happens that a young bear gives birth to cubs and cannot teach them all the skills, then an older bear can take them away.

We went to the Carpathian Mountains and talked to local people. They told us that a bear, having noticed hunters, can go backwards to put tracks in the wrong direction and deceive people. These are truly animals able to think carefully.”

Scientists caution against attributing human traits to an animal. However, this does not mean that a bear feels good in a cage. The discomfort of an animal living in a cramped and poor environment is not only in restrictions of its movement. In such conditions, an animal has little sensory load, and in simple terms, it is terribly bored. This is especially true for animals with high intelligence. And bears are definitely among them.

The enrichment of the enclosures at Domazhyr is both to distract bears from the stereotypic behavior and to allow them some mental gymnastics. They even eat with special mannerism. They have their own ways of savoring their favorite food. Olha shares her observations, “We give them oranges. I’ve noticed more than once that they eat all the flesh and leave the peel. Once we brought watermelons. They pressed lightly from above, the watermelon cracked, they opened it, and ate the inside part. They do not swallow everything at once. They even put an apple on their paw and eat a little bit. However, the bear bites on it two or three times, and the apple is gone.”

What happens after rehabilitation and socialization of bears?

People often ask why the bears are not released from the rehabilitation center into the wild, Natalia says. “There are centers that take care of cubs from the wild, whose mothers have died, for example. They are taught to survive without direct human contact. If an animal is born in captivity and is used to humans, it is a huge risk. Perhaps the bear will cope in the wild. However, it will approach people, and that does not always end well.”

The bears that come to Domazhyr will live here for the rest of their lives. They are to some extent protecting their relatives in captivity. At the sanctuary, people can see bears in conditions close to nature and listen to stories about their fate. After that, it is unlikely that these visitors will have the desire to lock such an animal in a cage, put a skirt or a collar on it.

The grumpy hen Baba Zina, the dogs Romka and Hraf, Mike and Gina, the pig Dusia, and the goat Marta live in shelters or with families across Ukraine. Most likely, these, and thousands of others, animals would not have survived if they hadn’t been taken in, evacuated, or treated in time by the people honored by UAnimals at the Animal Protection Award. 

These people experience every layer of society’s attitude toward animals on a daily basis. They know how often indifference is intertwined with compassion in the story of an animal.

We asked them about the moments that left the strongest impressions on them, and here’s what they’ve told us.

“No one expected he would survive” 

Anastasiia Klimniuk, the founder and the head of Animal House Rescue NGO

Kharkiv/Poltava region

This memory is from February 26, 2022. Animal food was hard to come by in Kharkiv. You couldn’t buy natural food, and all pet stores were closed. A warehouse with pet supplies opened in a garage. We were in a queue for dog food with 60 other people. It was a moment I’ll never forget. A man approached us with a cat in a carrier. His house had been destroyed, his wife had evacuated. He decided to go defend the country and had nowhere to leave the cat. He asked the people if anyone could take the cat in. No one responded. My husband and I exchanged glances and almost instantly decided to take the cat. That’s how we started taking in animals.

Later, we found out that the cat belonged to that man’s son. He and his wife had just had a baby, who was just two weeks old when the war began. So they decided to leave the cat with the grandparents for a month. When the man came to that line, the young parents were under russian occupation. Later, I received a message from them asking, “Do you still have our cat by any chance?” They sent me a photo of him as a kitten. So when we took him in, he was still very young. In 2022, the cat returned to his family.

There are examples of very caring attitudes toward animals in our area. Once, people saw a German shepherd lying near their yard. At first, they thought the dog was dead since he didn’t even move his ears. Eventually, they realized the dog was breathing. The people contacted us, and we took the animal to a veterinary clinic. There was very little hope of him surviving. The dog had no sensitivity in his body at all. An MRI showed a dislocation in his cervical spine.

When we picked the dog up at the clinic, he was already eating and going to the toilet on his own. The people who found him agreed to take in the dog with a disability and care for him. They named him Hraf. Now he can crawl, lie in a sphinx pose, and sit up for about 40 seconds, and he doesn’t need anyone’s help to eat. They built a wheelchair-like device so he is able to move around.

She fled on foot with a child and a puppy from shelling 

Olena Rusina, the head of Pegasus shelter

Malozakharyne, Dnipropetrovsk region

Recently, we were asked to go to a village because there was a large injured dog there. He had just appeared on the streets, even wearing a collar, but no one knew where he came from.

Local elderly women noticed him. These weren’t young people, skilled at using the Internet, yet they still tried to post his photo on social media to look for his family. The women even chipped in to buy parasite treatments for the dog.

We got a call after he got into a fight with another dog. We arrived and were met by these women, all with canes. These were civilized people who didn’t abandon the animal. They didn’t say, as often happens, “The dog’s lying around somewhere, go find him yourselves.” They followed our car, led us to the exact spot where the dog was. They cared for us, the volunteers. That was very heartwarming. The dog is still being treated and now lives at Pegasus shleter.

There was also a case when the offensive on Vovchansk began. Some people even fled on foot. A woman contacted us, asking if we could help provide shelter for a puppy. We didn’t want to, as our shelter was overcrowded. But it turned out this young woman was fleeing shelling on foot. She only took her child in a stroller. Just imagine the state she was in at that time! On the road, she saw a small, exhausted puppy. He was in the same circumstances as she was. The woman picked up the puppy and placed him at the bottom of the stroller! 

She made it to Dnipro, but didn’t abandon the puppy in the city. Then she contacted us, saying, “What do I do with a puppy and a child?” I posted the story on social media, and a family immediately responded and adopted the dog.

“Forgive me, Mike”

Serhii Ludenskyi, the founder and the head of Save Animals Ukraine NGO

Dnipro

Not long ago, I was asked to evacuate two Rottweilers from the frontline village of Oleksandropil in the Donetsk region. An elderly man was still living there, with a granddaughter waiting for him in Poland. The only issue was the dogs: two Rottweilers, 7-year-old Mike and 5-year-old Gina, lived in his yard. Traveling with such large dogs would have been difficult for the elderly man. It was because of them that he hadn’t left.

On the day of the evacuation, the elderly man arrived at his yard by bicycle. He had come from a small neighboring village, which was hit less often by artillery. A field behind his house was burning after a strike. All of this was happening under the thunderous sound of artillery.

The most heartbreaking moment was the man’s goodbye to his dogs. He hugged Mike’s head and said, “Forgive me, Mike. I have no choice.”

That video on my TikTok got a million views. I think many Ukrainians could relate to that pain.

We knew that Mike was aggressive. I had to climb onto the roof of the van and pull him up by the leash to get him inside.

The elderly man asked us to leave quickly, to avoid prolonging the goodbyes. So we did.

We brought the dogs to our shelter near Dnipro. It turned out that Mike was only aggressive toward other dogs. Both Rottweilers were soon taken in by lovely families. I’m very happy there are people who don’t abandon animals and others who are willing to take them in.

Two skeletons on chains

Tetiana Nelha, the founder of Zoofamily charity fund and shelter 

Pavlysh, Kirovohrad region

I always see both sides of the coin in how people treat animals, and it shocks me. I look at the soldiers, the rescuers who evacuate animals from combat zones while risking their own lives. They’re amazing. On the other hand, there are people in our area who don’t sterilize their pets, who cruelly dispose of puppies and kittens in trash bags at garbage dumps or in treelines. Some head into shelling to save animals; others kill them.

In our area there were people who would frequently leave their homes, abandoning their animals in chains and not feeding them. By law, we don’t have the right to enter someone else’s yard and take the animals. We had to push to get the police to go in with us and remove the dogs from their chains. These were already two skeletons. There’s currently an investigation against those people, so I can’t say more. I took the animals for treatment and rehabilitation at Zoofamily.

When a vet becomes an animal volunteer

Aliona Hrinnyk, the founder of Give a Paw YU NGO

Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv region

One day the phone rang, “Hello, I’m a veterinarian. I googled ‘volunteers Pivdennoukrainsk,’ and your number came up right away. I want to be useful, by giving advice at the very least.” It was Oleksandr Sokolov, who had relocated from Enerhodar. We met, and I immediately invited him to join our sterlization projects.

Before that, I had rented a house in the neighboring village of Kostiantynivka for animals to be housed temporarily. Well, calling it a house is generous; it was falling apart. There were walls, piles of trash, and grass up to our waists. My husband, my father, and I started fixing it up. People helped. Someone brought a bucket, someone brought a broom. A few volunteers came to clear weeds. We made sure the house was in order and set up a temporary place for animals to stay in. 

When Oleksandr arrived, with other volunteers, we chipped in to buy thread, anesthesia, and to set up an operating room. We began sterilizing stray cats and dogs there.

Time passed. I changed jobs, and our financial situation improved. We invested money, and in September 2024, we opened a clinic in the city.

There, we treat pets for a fee — to help strays, you need resources. Soldiers and internally displaced persons get discounts; some even get treatment free of charge. If an elderly woman comes with a pet, we treat it at a discount or free of charge. Plus, we do free spaying only of female cats so far. Our city has a shelter. By agreement, we operate on their dogs. Sometimes animals are brought in for treatment and we don’t charge for that. For strays under care of volunteers, we only charge the cost of materials.

We run campaigns for the free sterilization of strays. Our city is small, and there are more animals here than people. So we focus on sterilization. 

That village house now serves as a post-op recovery space and houses animals with disabilities. And Oleksandr Sokolov still works with me at the clinic.

“It wasn’t the shelling that killed them, it was hunger”

Alina Ostapenko, a member of Sumy Animal Home 

Sumy

I hardly remember life before the war. February 24, 2022, was a turning point in my mind. That’s when my real test as an animal rights defender began. It seemed that after the liberation of the Sumy region, life should have gotten easier, but then came the shelling of border areas and mandatory evacuations.

A year ago, in Yunakivka, a border village in the Sumy region, a local woman found eight dead dogs in different yards. It wasn’t the shelling that killed them, it was hunger. Most of the animals remained chained up until they died, unable to find even a scrap of food. All of them had been left there by people.

We had to go there to save the chained-up animals. On our first trip to the border area, we evacuated two dogs, Bruno and Alex, from Yunakivka.

Bruno’s survival was nothing but a miracle. We found him tied up in a yard where two other dogs already lay lifeless. Alex survived by eating raw corn.

After Alex and Bruno, we evacuated around 15 more dogs from Yunakivka.

Bruno is now at the shelter, and we’re still looking for a home for him. Alex found a loving family last year.

After meeting these dogs, we began actively evacuating animals from the border areas. Few people wanted to go to the villages of the Sumy region, so I decided to learn how to drive. That’s how a new chapter of spending weeks in remote shelled corners of the region began. Sadly, we couldn’t save them all.

In three years, we’ve found homes for about a thousand animals. No more abandoned animals is the result I strive for.

Neighbors so unalike

Olha Volkova, the head of Soul of a Tramp shelter 

Lupareve, Mykolaiv region 

This happened in the village of Lymany, before my trip to the Animal Protection Award. There, one woman poisoned about 20 dogs.

An acquaintance came to me and said, “Imagine, Olia, while you’re saving animals, this woman asked me, ‘Are you going to the city? Then buy me some rat poison, I didn’t have enough. I’ll poison the dogs.’” When I heard that, I went to the village. But the dogs were already dead, I couldn’t do anything. I saw the woman who poisoned them. I asked if she didn’t feel sorry for the dogs. She replied, “No. I poisoned them, and I’ll keep poisoning them.”

Olha has passed her testimony to the legal department of UAnimals and hopes to bring that woman to justice.

Roman Oleksandrovych, Baba Zina, Dusia, and the others

Viktoriia Zhydkova, the founder of Virnist animal protection society and of Human Rights Initiative NGO

Dobropillia, Donetsk region

In August 2019, my husband went to take out the trash. There was a bag with puppies in the dumpster. Only one was still alive, it was just two hours old. That’s when our fight for its life began. My husband made a special box for the puppy, basically, an artificial mom. We fed it by the clock, woke up at night. One time, my husband suddenly yelled, “Come here!” I thought something bad had happened. I came over and the puppy had opened the eyes. I’ve never seen my husband so happy. And now that dog is our famous Roman Oleksandrovych. Little Roma.

Another real act of humanity was when a whole chain of kindness worked together to rescue a farm in Udachne. I’m a vegetarian, and it was essential to me to save the farm, not to slaughter the animals. I wanted to create a shelter that would take in farm animals, and I shared the idea on social media.

That’s when a man from Udachne called me. He had a small farm. I must’ve asked him ten times, “Are you going to eat the animals?” He said no, and that their goose was 15 years old, the goats were 17…

Many people were involved in the farm’s evacuation. And now the animals from Udachne live at my shelter. We have Dusia the pig, who gives you her paw. There’s Marta the goat, she always greets you, bleats in her own way, and stretches out her front leg. There’s a chicken we call Baba Zina because she’s always grumpy. The moment you walk into the coop, she clucks as if to say, “You’re walking wrong, standing wrong, doing everything wrong.” Her beak won’t ever close. 

Kolia and the puppies 

Inna Borodulia — founder and the head of Happy Cat CSO

Zaporizhzhia

I work closely with a soldier named Slavik. He has evacuated a large number of animals and finds people to take them out of the combat zone. He pays for sterilization and treatment out of his own pocket. I’m actually about to head out to vaccinate puppies where he’s stationed. I’d love to take them all to the shelter, but that’s just not possible. To me, he’s a human with a capital H.

But I have another hero. Kolia, a tall, easy-going guy who works at a factory. Honestly, at first, I thought he wasn’t the brightest. But things aren’t always what they seem at first glance. The summer before last, Kolia found newborn puppies in a dumpster. Not afraid of the challenge, he took them in and raised them. All by himself! And this while working shifts at a demanding job! Every one of those puppies survived. He found homes for them all and kept one for himself. Ever since, I tell him, “Kolia, you’re my hero.”

***

After receiving their awards, the winners of the Animal Protection Award are quick to step out of the spotlight and return to their animals. At home, they change back into work clothes and roll up their sleeves. For three years of full-scale war, these people have been taking in dogs and cats, farm and wild animals, those evacuated from the front line or nearby areas, and sometimes they evacuate them on their own. That’s hundreds, sometimes thousands, of new animals each year. Animals keep arriving because the war continues. However, we can at least make sure these animal defenders don’t have even more work because of abandoned and mistreated pets left behind in safer regions of Ukraine.

Natalka is sitting on the porch of a village clubhouse in Novoosynove, Kharkiv region. The roar of the frontline echoes in the background. Smoke rises on the horizon.

“What are you doing now?” I ask.

“Preparing a solution. There’s a dog feeling unwell over there. We’ll give it an IV.”

A massive dark dog is sleeping in a cage under a birch tree. An IV is set up and hung from the tree’s lower branch. Nearby, cages hold animals awaiting surgery in the UAnimals veterinary vehicle.

We speak with Natalka during a UAnimals veterinary mission in the Kharkiv region, near Kupiansk, where veterinarians have long been absent. Here, Natalka and her team sterilize animals and provide medical assistance.

— The locals in Novoosynove seem to recognize you. This isn’t your first visit, is it?

— We were here in the summer, and people have gotten somewhat used to us. Back then, this place was much livelier: stores were open, and there were more residents. But since then, the situation has worsened. Fewer people remain, and the atmosphere has grown more somber. The store that used to operate now serves as a temporary shelter for animals.

— When you chose this profession, did you imagine your life would look like this?

— No, not at all! No veterinarian envisions their life this way!

My mother is a doctor, and I also considered a medical career. However, I didn’t want to work with people and chose veterinary medicine instead. Turns out, veterinarians often work more with people than with animals. There was a time when I doubted my life choices. I left university in my third year. Later, I returned with a clear purpose and have been dedicated to this profession ever since.

Nowadays, everyone does what they can. Through the Accessible Sterilization project, we can sterilize stray animals and vaccinate them against rabies. That’s what we do. The project’s goal is to make sterilization and rabies vaccination accessible for stray animals and pets belonging to low-income families. We also want people who take care of street animals to have the opportunity to sterilize them.

A long time ago, around 15 years ago, I began visiting animal shelters. At the time, I was working at a clinic and was invited to help at the Hostomel shelter. The conditions there were, to put it mildly, poor. I saw animals giving birth within the shelter because they weren’t sterilized. Many puppies and kittens had illnesses and died. That’s when I had the idea to make animal sterilization more accessible.

— Why sterilize stray or street animals?

— Many animals are born uncontrollably.

Why do we encounter cruelty toward animals? I believe the main problem is that there are too many of them. People commit various acts that degrade human dignity — like drowning kittens or puppies. Additionally, kittens, puppies, and mature animals get sick when there is no one to take care of them. It is an endless cycle of suffering.

There are no laws regulating animal reproduction. Often, people refuse to sterilize their pets. Usually, it’s an immature attitude. They claim to feel sorry for the animal but then go on to kill kittens or puppies. This is the cruelty we strive to curb.

— What does your work look like?

— My colleagues — Yuliya Tkachenko and Lolita Polishchuk — and I have a stationary office in Kyiv where we perform surgeries on animals a few times a month.

However, most of our work is done on our trips. We operate in frontline towns as well as in the Kyiv region. We perform surgeries in Novi Petrivtsi, north of Kyiv, and Ivankiv, near Chornobyl. There, we rent spaces and sterilize cats and dogs brought in by low-income residents. We invite people via various social media groups. We also assist the Sirius shelter, which is struggling financially and lacks a veterinarian.

— Do you remember your first field mission?

— We started operating in villages before the full-scale war. However, I distinctly recall one trip already during the invasion. We traveled north of Kyiv to Kukhari, a village by the Teteriv River. Our army was holding back the advance on Kyiv there. Tanks passed through the village, and a major battle took place. The village was completely destroyed — only chimneys remained standing. It looked like a scene from a World War II film. It was deeply disturbing. We worked in a clubhouse that a caretaker was trying to rebuild, even though his own house had also been destroyed.

When we arrived, it seemed like no one lived there anymore. The reception was scheduled for 10 a.m., and suddenly, people began appearing from all directions.

Despite their destroyed homes and shattered lives, they came to sterilize their animals!

Our first mission to a frontline area was to Lyman after its liberation. It was winter, and we worked in an abandoned veterinary clinic. Seeing it was heartbreaking because it had been someone’s business. [During the occupation], Russian forces used the clinic — they vandalized everything inside.

The city was in ruins. We watched as our military vehicles and soldiers moved toward the front line… but we didn’t see them returning. The rumbling was constant. The sky glowed orange. It felt as if there were some big millstones where the frontline was, grinding people.

— How do people usually react to your work when you visit them?

— Soldiers care a lot about the fate of animals. They ask us to evacuate them, treat them, and bring them in for sterilization. All those who have already been affected by serious military events understand why sterilization is necessary and why animals should be vaccinated against rabies. After all, they are the ones who feed these animals and take care of them. 

For example, in the Zaporizhzhia region, particularly in Orikhiv, there have been recorded cases of rabies, and there are many foxes. We traveled there to vaccinate animals from rabies, and many people willingly came forward to get vaccines. There’s no resistance — on the contrary, people are grateful for the opportunity to vaccinate their animals.

— And who’s this joining us?

— These are Lyman and Richie — my dogs. They work here with us.

Richie is a dog from Kukhari, that heavily devastated village we visited after the Kyiv region was liberated.

We collaborate with a volunteer there who is very committed to preventing stray puppies and kittens from being born. However, due to the full-scale war, she couldn’t keep up, and Richie was born. We had to take the puppies for rehoming, but I decided to keep Richie.

And it’s clear where Lyman comes from! He’s from Lyman.

We were going on a trip to collect puppies that a soldier had asked us to evacuate, but we accidentally went to the wrong checkpoint. We explained, “We’re here for the yellow puppies.” They brought out Lyman. He’s black! A tiny puppy with no teeth. We said, “We have nowhere to take him…” and they replied, “Take him, or he’ll die here.” So we brought him with us and had to bottle-feed him. I thought about putting him up for adoption, but this little dog made me feel happy. Now he’s with me.

— Do you feel your work is making a difference?

— In Ivankiv, where we systematically sterilize stray animals, there are no unsterilized strays left. In fact, there are very few animals on the streets altogether. There were even a few seasons when people couldn’t find kittens to adopt. That’s an excellent indicator.

We’ve been to Lyman three or four times, and we’re quite pleased with the results. Most of the dogs there now have ear tags, which means they’ve been sterilized.

I also feel that our work is not in vain when people say “thank you.”

Giant mutant rats and two-headed dogs — the legends surrounding Chornobyl are countless. Add to that the eerie vibe of deserted, desolate lands, and it’s no wonder tourists from around the world have flocked here, particularly fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game series and viewers of HBO’s miniseries. 

But Chornobyl isn’t about romance; it’s about tragedy. This land suffered deeply under Soviet rule in the 1980s, and now, since 2022, it faces similar harm from its successor, russia. On the very first day of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, their troops entered the Exclusion Zone, occupying it and the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve. They dug trenches in the Red Forest, raising radioactive dust with their heavy equipment.

Now, after liberation, Chornobyl is also a militarized zone, as Ukraine’s army works to prevent the occupation from happening again. At the same time, it remains a nature reserve. The head of scientific research at the Chornobyl Reserve and the researcher who authored the book The Terrible, The Beautiful and The Ugly in Chornobyl details the transformation of local nature from the post-disaster era to the wartime period.

After the Disaster, or the Natural Stages of Acceptance

“When the accident occurred at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, specialists and military personnel — the so-called liquidators — filled the 30-kilometer zone around it,” says Denys Vyshnevskyi, who has led the Chornobyl Reserve’s scientific department for five years.

He adds that in the first days, efforts focused on reducing radioactive emissions from the damaged reactor and minimizing environmental consequences. 

“Ukrainian zoologists and botanists who began studying the Zone after the disaster developed a timeline of the ecological consequences of the catastrophe. They identified three stages, which we now refer to as shock, reset, and stabilization,” Vyshnevskyi explains.

Shock

The first stage, which lasted a few months, saw the most intense radioactive impact on the environment. 

“During this period, within a 10-square-kilometer forested area around the station — which bore the brunt of radioactive dust emissions following the reactor explosion — the pine trees began to die. Pine is nearly as sensitive to radiation as humans. The needles lost their chlorophyll and turned a rusty red color. This became the Red Forest,” says the scientist.

Reset

Then came the reset phase, which began in the latter half of 1986 and lasted until 1991. Vyshnevskyi describes it as follows: “Certain animals left Chornobyl, typically those dependent on human presence, such as the common pigeon and the house mouse. Some livestock animals perished due to being abandoned. Wild species moved in, replacing them, since they now had more space and less competition. This led to a gradual revival of typical Polissia [natural geographic region] wildlife.”

In some cases, domestic animals turned feral, a phenomenon still observable today. “A unique ecological experiment has unfolded in Lubianka, a village near the former town of Poliske. There, a man who kept cattle passed away, and his cows have now roamed freely for five years, living like wild aurochs along the river’s floodplain,” Vyshnevskyi shares.

Stabilization

By 1991, Chornobyl’s environment had reached a stage of stabilization and gradual recovery, where changes began to follow natural processes again. Vyshnevskyi notes that since then, the Zone’s ecosystem has started to resemble Polissia’s typical landscape.

Radiobiologist Olena Pareniuk recalls that around 2010, the Chornobyl Reserve experienced a surge in wild boar populations. “At that time, protection against them was installed. The animals would break through to the Zone and gnaw everything around them. And then, due to a plague, the number of wild boars decreased dramatically. For some time there were no wolves in the Zone, and then they appeared. It was incredible to see how nature changes and regulates itself.”

However, making conclusive scientific conclusions about how nature has adapted or why remains premature. Radiobiologist Kateryna Shavanova emphasizes that three decades of research are insufficient; at least another thirty years are needed.

In reality, long-term studies have been limited. Pareniuk notes that despite inspirational discussions about Chornobyl being an open-air laboratory, consistent funding, essential for any kind of research, has always been lacking for scientists studying the area.

“Studying wildlife, and especially evolutionary changes in wildlife, requires an experiment. Not a three-day laboratory experiment but an experiment throughout the entire life cycle. No one has ever conducted such research [there] because funding is only available now and then. Such things, however, require consistency. Therefore, unfortunately, no one can say with scientific accuracy how radiation affected the fauna of the Zone. We can only conclude that the animals have adapted,” explains radiobiologist Kateryna Shavanova, though she cautions that even this observation is not scientifically definitive.

In the absence of rigorous science, pseudoscience often takes hold. It plays into myths and rumors, abundant fantasies born of fear and ignorance.

Radiobiologist Kateryna Shavanova says that there are some unscrupulous scientists who have a fairly high citation index. However, the experiments of these scientists from different countries raise many questions: “They study, for example, two pairs of animals but make large-scale and ambitious conclusions. In fact, it’s freak research, which is then used to build conspiracy theories.”

The researcher also adds that in Chornobyl studies, it is crucial to factor in not just radiation but also climate change. 

“Yes, we can observe differences between animals in the Chornobyl Zone and those outside it. But we need to understand where these differences come from — whether they’re due to radiation or other environmental factors,” she explains. 

Olena Pareniuk emphasizes that it is also essential to accept the fact that nature does not always adapt. When animals moved, they were exposed to radiation, and the next generations could no longer be viable. In this case, we will not see adaptation: nature simply wiped someone out.

Chornobyl and War

“Sometimes I want to lament how the war affected Chornobyl. To lament the mining, the fact that the reserve suffered through the fighting… But then I remember how the chalk mountain landscapes in the east are being demolished, and I realize that complaining doesn’t seem ethical,” says Denys Vyshnevskyi.

He explains that although hostilities did harm nature, they did not destroy it. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed. Over the 36 days of occupation, russian forces looted approximately two million hryvnias’ worth of equipment, stole vehicles, and damaged facilities.

Estimating environmental damage from landmines, unexploded munitions, and forest fires is more challenging. In a report on the condition of the Chornobyl Reserve after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, its employees said that russian troops were quite active in the air over the protected area. The noise from planes and helicopters causes stress to wild animals. For example, it was reported that a nilgai antelope died in the Askania Nova reserve as a result of the invaders’ flights over the reserve, causing the exotic animal to crash into the fence of the enclosure.

russian military vehicles also traversed the reserve, and Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant staff reported russian tanks moving through the Red Forest. Likely due to this, on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate detected a spike in gamma radiation near the plant.

Thus, since the liberation, Chornobyl has become a bizarre fusion of the military and the pristine. Where once there was an industrial-pristine mix, a third aspect has been added. “We visited Chornobyl in May of this year. The area is now well-prepared for defense — trenches, dugouts, mines… On the one hand, that is not what a reserve should be like. On the other hand, because of the strong defenses, the russians will not be able to break through from this direction again,” says Olena Pareniuk.

Still, researchers emphasize the importance of preserving Chornobyl as a conservation area.

“Polissia no longer exists as it once was. The swamps are drying up — climate change is doing its job. At the same time, however, swamps are an important factor that slows down climate change. Chornobyl is the area that is most strongly reminiscent of the authentic Polissia,” Kateryna Shavanova explains.

Moreover, the swamps also hinder enemy movement. Thus, restoring wetlands can enhance the defensive properties of the protected landscape in an environmentally friendly way. At least in this way, the war could have a positive impact on Chornobyl. Currently, it only causes destruction, hinders the development of the reserve, and prevents it from fulfilling its educational and research functions. 

Denys Vyshnevskyi says that the primary goal of the Chornobyl Reserve until 2006 was to overcome the consequences of the disaster. Then came the so-called empty era. Only in 2016, under the leadership of Vitalii Petruk, Director of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, a new concept was proposed for the development of the reserve: not overcoming, but using the territory. In particular, the Exclusion Zone was to become a research site and a place for testing radiation protection technologies.

All of this is about safety, and in this concept, the workers of the reserve identified the development of safety as the main task of the Zone. Back in 2016, they had no idea how right they were.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Main and last images: The Exclusion Zone through the eyes of airborne assault troops. Source: WAR CREW Telegram channel

At least $600 billion is the estimated cost of damage to Ukraine’s protected areas and biodiversity caused by russia’s invasion, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources. However, the real loss far exceeds monetary value. It includes countless dead animals, devastated ecosystems, and stolen beloved places—places dear to each and every Ukrainian.

In this article, Ukrainian opinion leaders share their favorite places, which, because of russia, we have either lost or are losing right now.

Sasha Tab’s Crimea

“At Cape Aya near Sevastopol, I first saw bioluminescent plankton. We swam at night, and I couldn’t believe my eyes—my hands turned into some sort of neon light. These are incredible memories! Sadly, I haven’t seen this magical plankton again,” recalls Sasha Tab, vocalist of the band Kalush Orchestra.

Sasha was fortunate to visit Crimea several times in his youth, traveling to Yalta, Partenit, Koktebel, Hurzuf, Feodosia, and Kaihador (then known as Ordzonikidze).

The damage inflicted on Crimea’s unique nature by russians during the 10-year occupation is hard to assess. However, it’s known that military drills involving missile launches and bomb drops are conducted in the Opuk Nature Reserve. Additionally, illegal sand extraction has flooded about 10 hectares of the Bakalska Spit Regional Landscape Park. 

Many other russian crimes against nature likely remain undocumented, and we may only confront their consequences once Crimea is liberated.

“My best memories are about Crimea,” Sasha Tab says. “The younger guys in my band have never been there. That’s unfortunate. But I hope we’ll still have a chance to see these places.”

Nataliya Zhyzhchenko’s Chornobyl

“The last time I visited Chornobyl was April 26, 2021, at 1:23 a.m.—precisely on the anniversary of the disaster. I was there with the plant workers, and I brought my father. We visited the Shelter Structure and honored the memory of those who perished,” shares ONUKA lead singer Nataliya Zhyzhchenko.

From a young age, Nataliya was familiar with the details of the Chornobyl catastrophe because her father worked as a liquidator at the plant from 1986 to 1988.

“There’s history here, lessons to be learned, and sadly, they are repeating. Chornobyl has always been a source of pain for me, but also inspiration and awe.”

Nataliya has been to the Chornobyl zone about 20 times, doing internships at the power plant, filming documentaries, modeling for Vogue, and composing songs. As she puts it, Chornobyl allowed her to escape people and recharge.

After almost four decades of recovery, nature in the Chornobyl zone is once again under threat, this time from russia’s full-scale invasion. In 2022, Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate recorded elevated gamma radiation levels, likely caused by russian military vehicles stirring up radioactive dust.

“The nature there is unique,” says Nataliya. “The reserve is extraordinary because of the absence of humans and the environmental condition. When I was there, I saw a fox on the streets of Prypiat. I saw a moose and her calves when I stopped the car by the roadside. She looked directly into my eyes, assessed the situation, and simply walked away. Everyone [in the car] held their breath.”

The exclusion zone is home to many animals, including deer, roe deer, wolves, raccoons, wild boars, storks, lynxes, and bears. In total, over 300 species of vertebrates live in the area, 75 of which are listed in Ukraine’s Red Data Book of Ukraine.

“After all the harm humanity has inflicted on this area, it’s hard to imagine how else we could damage it. Nature will overcome this too. It will forgive this too. Unfortunately, but also, in a way, fortunately,” concludes Nataliya.

Anton Ptushkin’s Tuzly Lagoons

Blogger Anton Ptushkin’s memories of the Tuzly Lagoons are quite recent. In August 2022, he began filming a documentary there about animals during the full-scale war.

“We were filming the mass death of dolphins and cetaceans due to russian aggression,” Anton recounts. “I saw dead dolphins with my own eyes, lying on the shore.”

The Tuzly Lagoons, a group of saltwater lagoons [lymans in Ukrainian] in the southern Odesa region, are home to dozens of bird species, including some that are endangered. Despite the grim circumstances, Anton was struck by the beauty of the area. He was particularly amazed by the pelicans, noting he had never seen so many of them before.

This part of the Black Sea is also home to porpoises, one of the smallest cetacean species, including a unique subspecies known as the Azov porpoise [Phocoena phocoena relicta], which inhabits Ukrainian waters.

The natural park has been under enemy fire, with fragments of russian missiles found there. Anton was joined by a prosecutor investigating crimes against Ukraine’s ecosystem, who conducted autopsies on the animals to send samples to Germany and Italy to determine the cause of death.

“The park’s director, who has studied cetaceans for many years, believes that sonars and missile launches caused the mass deaths of dolphins,” Anton adds.

Anhelina Usanova’s Askania-Nova

“When I think of my time at Askania-Nova, I remember its peaceful atmosphere. But now, it’s far from a place of relaxation and connection with nature,” says Miss Eco International 2024 Anhelina Usanova.

She visited the reserve as a child during a nearby camp stay. She recalls reading about Przewalski’s horses and being determined to see them. Though she didn’t spot the horses, she saw many other exotic animals, including Caffra buffaloes, Chapman’s zebras, Père David’s deer, and American bison.

Today, these animals’ lives are in danger. We have previously reported on the fires in Askania-Nova, the largest occurring on August 22 and September 1, 2023. These fires destroyed plants listed in Ukraine’s Green Data Book. Since the start of the war, over 5,500 hectares of the reserve—nearly one-fifth of its territory—have burned.

Askania-Nova’s director, Viktor Shapoval, reported that three Caffra buffaloes died because the occupation administration failed to move them to winter quarters in time. Additionally, endangered species are illegally taken from the reserve to russia and Crimea, often to worse conditions where they lack the freedom they enjoyed in Askania-Nova.

A comprehensive assessment of the impact of russian occupation on the reserve’s ecosystem will only be possible after its liberation. After Ukraine’s victory, Anhelina plans to join a volunteer mission there.

“Our land will need a lot of work to restore everything, especially places as incredible as Askania-Nova. Its value cannot be measured in money, it is simply priceless,” she says.

Olha Martynovska’s Kinburn Spit 

“As a student, we used to vacation in Kobleve and Ochakiv, coastal towns near Mykolaiv. The Kinburn Spit was something like a foreign country for us, something exotic,” recalls Olha Martynovska, judge of the culinary show MasterChef.

One day, she and her classmates went to the spit that so “tenderly and delicately enters the open sea.” 

“After that, I had many foreign countries, islands, peninsulas, oceans, and seas, but this first one was like my first love. It stays forever, and the Kinburn Spit is a place of power for me.”

Now, Kinburn Spit is part of the russian-occupied territory, from which the mainland of Ukraine is regularly shelled. Fires frequently break out on the peninsula, and according to local residents, the invaders prohibit extinguishing them. Anticipating the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, russians have mined the spit, posing a threat to wildlife.

“When Ukraine liberates Kinburn Spit, I’ll go searching for the roe deer and hares I used to see there,” Olha shares her plans.

Polina Uvarova’s Kyianytsia

“I remember how in Kyianytsia, you could hear the birds’ songs so well that we would stop just to listen. Now, alongside the birds, KABs and Shaheds fly,” says travel blogger Polina Uvarova.

Kyianytsia is a small village in the Sumy region, just 30 kilometers from the russian border. Polina and her friends used to love visiting Kyianytsia to enjoy nature and tranquility.

“There’s a stunning architectural monument there—Kyianytsia Palace—and the nature is just incredibly beautiful,” she recalls.

The forest, with its many streams, abundant wildlife, and picturesque lake, is how Polina remembers this place. But now, due to constant shelling, locals no longer travel to Kyianytsia to unwind.

“After the victory, I’d love to return and walk the same paths. I’d look for the springs and stroll by the lake. I’d go to the local store, buy some coffee, sit by the lake with an ice cream, and just soak in the energy of this place,” she says.

Sasha Shabalina’s Dzharylhach

“Dzharylhach is a place that russia has stolen from me,” says comedian Sasha Shabalina. Dzharylhach Island is the largest island in Ukraine and the Black Sea. Sasha visited it in the summer of 2020. “YouTube convinced me to go to Dzharylhach: there were so many videos calling it the ‘Ukrainian Maldives.’ The videos showed crystal-clear water and wild animals.”

Sasha decided to go and was amazed by the natural beauty and the peacefulness of the wildlife. Right after arriving with her friends, they spotted a dolphin playing near the shore.

“There was this feeling that we were guests, and the true hosts—the animals—were nearby, so we had to behave respectfully. For the first time, I saw how people can show respect for both nature and each other.”

Since the beginning of the invasion, the russians have occupied Dzharylhach. Since then, the local ecosystem has been fighting for survival, as the russians are now using the island as a firing range. In August 2023, a fire raged on Dzharylhach for a week in the part of the island home to rare species. Endangered animals such as the steppe viper and the unique empusa fasciata, a type of praying mantis that can mimic a drop of water, were at risk from the flames.

Dzharylhach now faces the threat of being turned from a protected area into an industrial site and resort. In 2023, russian authorities permitted fishing, hunting, logging, and the extraction of clay, salt, oil, and natural gas. They also allowed the construction of hotels and restaurants in the national park. 

Additionally, the invaders built a land bridge between the mainland village of Lazurne and the island to facilitate access for military vehicles. Environmentalist and zoologist Pavlo Holdin explained that this artificial connection posed a threat to the Dzharylhach Bay ecosystem. Fortunately, the sea washed away the land bridge during a powerful storm.

“I think I would have removed that bridge with my own hands. It is ecocide,” Sasha Shabalina says in frustration. “I really want to believe that nature will heal itself. Since learning about the occupation of Dzharylhach, I’ve been dreaming of all the animals rising up to defeat the invaders, just like in the movie Jumanji.”

Cover Photo: Nataliya Zhyzhchenko in the Chornobyl Zone. Source: ONUKA archive and Vogue Ukraine.

Banner Photo: Animal autopsy in the Tuzly Lagoons. Source: Anton Ptushkin’s personal archive.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

There’s a persistent stereotype that swamps are nothing but rotting, darkness, and treacherous bogs that will immediately swallow you whole. I only agree with the last part: swamps do pull you in—you can’t help but want to explore their unique features more and more. This exploration is both desirable and necessary for preservation.

First, let me clarify: in this text, for simplicity, I refer to wetlands as “swamps.” Wetlands are divided into five categories: marine, estuarine, lacustrine (lake), riverine, and palustrine (marsh). All of these types are carefully protected and studied globally because they are incredibly valuable.

In fact, as far back as 1971, world leaders established the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. The countries that ratified this convention committed to creating nature reserves to protect swamps. To date, 172 countries have ratified this convention—Ukraine joined in 1996. Unfortunately, not all significant wetlands have yet been designated as Ramsar sites.

So why is it so important to care about swamps? Because they are natural reservoirs of fresh water. Contrary to popular belief, the water there is not stagnant or rotten. Thanks to special soils—peats—water in swamps is naturally filtered, and the vegetation on their surface slows down evaporation under the sun.

Swamps also absorb seasonal water surpluses, protecting people from floods. They act as local temperature regulators during particularly hot periods, which is why they are so crucial in our era of climate change.

Moreover, swamps are hubs of life and species interaction. About 40% of Earth’s living organisms reside, reproduce, and feed in wetlands. Each finds a safe and comfortable niche within the waters. For example, birds like the Eurasian penduline tit, the aquatic warbler, the marsh warbler, and the great reed warbler build their nests in the heart of swamps, where it’s moist and out of reach for predators.

The Ramsar Convention particularly focuses on protecting waterfowl. And it was through birds that I became involved in wetland research. Completely by accident.

It all started with a childhood dream of buying a house by a lake. In 2019, I made that dream come true, and by the spring of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I had settled near Lake Supii. The village I moved to has only one street, with gardens that lead straight to the water. This is how I became a constant spectator of nature’s theater and one morning, I witnessed something extraordinary: about 100 mute swans filled the sky and then descended onto the lake. Until then, I had only seen such sights on National Geographic. This sight moved me so deeply that I started to explore our swampy surroundings more actively. Eventually, I registered a civil society organization to study and protect the local environment.

Since then, I’ve learned that our region has a long history of swamp destruction for agricultural achievements. During the Soviet era, drainage systems were built on the Supii and most small rivers in this part of Ukraine, and the rivers themselves were straightened and channeled. Their natural winding courses were redirected through canals, and the areas where the rivers used to flow were planted with sunflowers. In this way, wetlands were industrially converted into arable land, disrupting natural processes.

I’ve met with the Ukrainian scientists who planned and implemented these drainage projects. They told me their intentions were positive: to increase crop yields and boost the country’s economy. Now, they acknowledge that even if we restore all the rivers “broken” back then, only about 20% of the ecosystem would recover. The rest is lost. Forever.

Still, agricultural machinery continues to plow closer and closer to the edges of the swamps near Lake Supii each year. To understand how this affects nature, our organization constantly monitors local biodiversity. Almost daily, we record the flora and fauna in the same areas using the iNaturalist app by National Geographic. We also track bird populations with the Merlin Bird ID app by Cornell University.

For instance, this summer, we noticed that due to plowing near the swamps, the population of the aquatic warbler has decreased. This is a vulnerable species listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.

To preserve our vulnerable bird species and their habitat—the swamp—we need to create Ramsar sites on Lake Supii and other wetland areas. The Ramsar Convention must not just remain a signed piece of paper—it must be actively implemented. As an activist, I believe that what helps the most is raising awareness and fostering a sense of responsibility for nature in each of us. That’s why I never tire of explaining: swamps are valuable ecosystems, meticulously designed by nature, and our task is simply to study them without interfering.

The texts in the Columns section reflect only the author’s opinion and do not necessarily align with the position of UAnimals media’s editorial team.

Vika Horchuk, a Kyiv resident, had no connection to dogs until 2011 when she got her first dog—a Yorkshire Terrier named Dream. Why a Yorkie? Vika traveled extensively and was looking for a small dog that could accompany her in the airplane cabin. However, Dream grew larger than expected, exceeding all permissible limits for carry-on baggage.

Initially, Vika searched for places to leave the sizable Dream while she traveled. Later, she added a Bobtail named Summer and a small mixed-breed dog named Blue Moon to her family. The question of where to leave her pets took on three dimensions. So, in 2019, Vika opened her own dog hotel, with Blue Moon as the symbol on its logo and business cards.

The hotel founder had rescued Blue Moon from negligent owners. But let Vika tell the story herself.

— I took Moon on my birthday.

I didn’t get Moon from a shelter but from very poor conditions. I came across an online ad selling a puppy. When I saw the little one and the background of where she was sitting… It was a dreadful floor, like in a barn, with concrete everywhere. I thought to myself: I must take her away from there, no matter what. I had been considering whether I could care for another dog and how Dream would feel about it. But when I saw that puppy, I immediately decided she was mine.

When I arrived to meet her, they didn’t even let me inside to see where the dog lived. I took her and brought her to a clinic: she was covered in fleas, bitten, with no vaccinations. She had to go into quarantine for inpatient treatment. There, they bathed her, treated her, vaccinated her, and sterilized her.

In English, there’s a phrase “once in a blue moon”—something that happens very rarely. That’s why I named her Blue Moon. She’s unique! Every mixed-breed dog is unique by nature.

— In your experience, are mixed-breeds smart dogs, or are they hard to train?

— Oh, they’re very smart! But it’s important to understand that all dogs are different—much depends on their life experiences and the conditions they have experienced. Dream is smart, Summer is smart, but Moon is a super trickster! She learns very quickly and often invents her own games.

She knows that when I bring home a grocery bag, she’s not supposed to get into it. But Moon tries to outsmart me: she tosses a ball into the bag and then peeks inside. I say, “Moon! No.” And she looks at me like, “But my toy’s in there!”

The mixed-breed dogs that have stayed at our hotel are all super cool too. Sometimes they’re more fearful than purebred dogs. However, once they realize they’re safe, they turn out to be very inventive and friendly animals. I adore them.

— What challenges can arise if someone adopts a dog from a shelter or the streets? Can you tell me about your experience?

— When we got home with Moon, all hell broke loose… Moon peed on the bed. I changed the sheets three times a day. Over time, I trained Moon to use a pee pad: she got treats as positive reinforcement. Moon figured out that when she went on the pad, she got a treat, so she started peeing there just a little at a time. Now, she goes for walks.

Moon is still afraid of feet. I lie in bed with my legs under the blanket. If Moon notices my foot move, she runs to another part of the apartment or to her bed. I never hit her. Maybe she was beaten where I got her from.

She is also wary of strangers. If someone is coming to visit, they must first meet Moon outside. The person plays with her a bit, and then they come in. The rule is: don’t touch Moon, and don’t pay her any attention until she approaches you on her own.

— What else should you prepare for when adopting a shelter dog?

— You need to be financially prepared.

Firstly, you will have to spend money on dog food. For my three dogs, the monthly cost of food is about 10,000 UAH. How much you will spend depends on the dog’s weight and the quality of the food. And this quality directly impacts the dog’s health.

Secondly, you will also need to budget for flea, tick, and deworming treatments, which are necessary year-round. Your dog will need basic vaccinations, and there are additional ones to consider, like the kennel cough vaccine. Puppies and dogs with weak immune systems are particularly vulnerable, so vaccination is essential.

Sessions with a dog trainer and veterinary services can be quite costly. I take my dogs for a check-up at the clinic every six months. I also get their teeth cleaned. There are also expenses for leashes, toys, bowls, and potentially replacing items that might get damaged at home.

Be prepared for the fact that your dog may not be able to stay alone at first. They need to be gradually accustomed to being by themselves. It’s important not to create a situation where the dog is used to always having you around and then suddenly being left alone in a house or apartment.

Dogs adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic or at the start of the full-scale war were constantly with their owners. Then, when people returned to work at some point, these dogs couldn’t handle being home alone. They develop what is referred to as separation anxiety. Such dogs begin to spoil furniture or howl, which is their way of releasing stress. 

Regardless of whether you’re considering a mixed-breed or a purebred dog, you need to ask yourself: am I prepared, no matter what happens, to be there for this dog?

We all want healthy pets, just as we want healthy children, for example. However, in life, anything can happen. Accidents and traumas may occur. You’ll need patience, time, and the willingness to care for the animal. However, all these challenges are outweighed by the emotions—the loyal eyes, the moments when you come home, and the dogs jump around to greet you… Or when you open your eyes in the morning, and the dogs are right there, “Hey, human, scratch me!” These emotions are 100% worth all the effort. But it’s crucial to be honest with yourself about whether you’re ready for the difficulties.

— Do people bring mixed-breed dogs to your hotel?

— Yes, many do. And it’s encouraging to see that more people are adopting shelter dogs and getting non-purebred pets. Currently, we have Hovy (short for Hoverla), Mila, Motya, and Lando—all mixed breeds. Each dog is unique; there’s no other like them in the world. By the way, mixed-breed dogs are incredibly charming. We have a white mixed-breed named Teddy who visits from time to time. We’ve often been asked what breed this amazing dog is!

— Please, tell us about the caretakers. What motivates them to adopt dogs from shelters? 

— The people I know through my work are very responsible and involved.

Sometimes people adopt a purebred dog because it’s “cute and adorable.” They aren’t always as involved. For example, one purebred dog at home ate a plastic bag. We noticed this during a walk when cleaning up after the dog and informed its caretakers. They said, “That’s normal; it’s a Beagle!” Yes, Beagles are active, but that behavior isn’t normal.

Before caretakers leave a dog with us, we have a conversation, and they fill out a questionnaire. From the caretakers of mixed-breed dogs, we often receive much more information about the dog’s likes, dislikes, fears, and triggers than from the owners of purebreds.

People who adopt shelter dogs follow the principle of “don’t buy, rescue.” However, rescuing must also be done responsibly.

— Do you think the situation has changed after 2022?

— If we compare the number of mixed-breed dogs in our hotel before the full-scale war and now, there are definitely more now. Before the war, most of the mixed-breed dogs we saw belonged to foreigners or were brought in by IT professionals or people for whom rescuing animals is a core value. There are still many dogs in shelters, but it’s heartening to see that more of them are being adopted.

— Have you ever come across cases when people abandoned their dogs?

— Throughout my time working with dogs, I have encountered three instances of dogs being abandoned. Twice, dogs were simply left with us, and incidentally, they were purebred. On one occasion, we discovered through their caretakers’ social media that they had abandoned a mixed-breed dog. We found new homes for these dogs.

After the Kakhovka Reservoir dam was destroyed, we assisted a shelter in the Kyiv region. At that time, people approached us with requests like, “We want to adopt a dog, but it has to be from Kherson.” When we suggested other dogs available at the shelter, they insisted, “No, we want that one.” This isn’t a very considerate approach. Why do you want a dog? To say you’re a hero because you saved a dog from that specific place? 

You would be just as much of a hero if you adopted any dog that has been in a shelter for three, five, or even seven years…

— The war has also displaced many people. Having animals complicates the process, so UAnimals rescuers often have to rehome abandoned dogs in shelters. 

— How can anyone abandon a family member, whether it’s a mixed-breed or a purebred dog? Sometimes people say, “We’re leaving and can’t take the dog; it’s too difficult.” Yes, it’s difficult! But it’s possible. I’ve traveled abroad and returned with my three dogs. You’re not moving to Mars! It’s good when people at least reach out to volunteers rather than just tying the dog to a tree in the woods (unfortunately, that happens too).

We still have many people who believe it’s normal for a dog to live in a kennel on a meter-long chain. Absolutely not! Or that it’s okay to feed dogs table scraps because “that’s what they do in the village, and the dogs are fine.” No, it’s not fine! They don’t have a choice.

I don’t have any issues with dogs; my issues are always with people. Yes, a dog can destroy things or be aggressive; they can be challenging. But you can work on a dog’s behavior, and if the caretaker is fully committed to training the dog, it’s likely to be successful.

— Taking care of a dog is quite an undertaking. What is the point of so much effort? 

— It’s what keeps you from completely going crazy, even when you’re at your limit. No matter how I feel, the dog needs to be walked. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t adopted Moon. There are times when I’m in a terrible mood, everyone has gotten on my nerves… But then the dog licks me, kisses me, or Moon throws her little crocodile toy onto my laptop… These are just genuine emotions that keep you going.

I know of a case where a woman gave up her dog because she got a new boyfriend, and they didn’t get along. It’s sad because the dog was already part of the family.

As for me, I have it written right on my Tinder profile, “If you’re not ready to sleep in bed with dogs, swipe left.”

A few minutes by car from Kyiv, you arrive in the village of Chubynske. Here, four bears and a wolf live at the Bila Skelia sanctuary, which means White Rock in Ukrainian. I enter the gates, fully confident that the bears will be somewhere far away and that I’ll only see them through a camera lens with a 5x zoom. If only they would poke their noses out!

However, almost immediately, a nearly 300-kilogram bear named Synochok approaches the fence and watches my every step intently.

“Watching a moving object is a natural behavior for a predator. It doesn’t mean he will attack, but he’s curious. When people come with cameras, he openly enjoys himself. You are potential prey,” says the sanctuary’s co-founder and predator behavior and ecology specialist, Maryna Shkvyria.  

Well, it’s good that the bear got curious and approached me. After all, nothing but curiosity would make him leave his important business deep in the enclosure. He has a choice of where to be, when, and what to do. The task of the rehabilitation center for animals rescued from cages is precisely this: to create conditions that help them make choices. It turns out this can be quite difficult.

Climbing, Running, Swimming, Chewing

There is no actual rock at Bila Skelia. However, an artificial white rock once stood in the enclosure where bears Liubochka and Mykhasyk used to live. That enclosure was not here but at a shelter in the Zhytomyr region.

That shelter appeared in Berezivka back in 2012 and was initially called Hope. The international foundation Four Paws managed it, which later founded another bear sanctuary, Domazhyr, in the Lviv region. Consequently, Hope came under the care of the Save Wild Foundation and became the Bila Skelia sanctuary. Some of the bears there gradually moved to Domazhyr. Bila Skalia was then developed at a new location in Chubynske, and operations began in 2020.

“It was difficult,” says zoologist Yehor Yakovliev, Maryna’s husband and co-founder of Bila Skelia. “We drew the sketches of the sanctuary with Maryna, and I did the more precise planning and calculations. Then, the plumbing and welding work began, which I and nine other people carried out. We transported the bears in 2020, too. While they wintered in small enclosures, we built the large ones. We worked all year.”

Synochok looks at me from behind the net. Though he is clearly visible, he is separated from me by a 3.5-meter-high fence and two layers of Electric shepherd is an electrified fence that does not allow animals to go beyond a certain area. electric shepherd. Safety is the number one concern in the design of bear enclosures. In addition to visible fences, there are also hidden ones.

Yehor explains, “There is also a net in the ground so the bear cannot dig a way out. A bear is a compulsive animal. For example, if it senses water flowing underground, it will dig very long and persistently, breaking structures. A bear can remove a cubic meter (35 cubic feet) of soil daily. It’s a big challenge for us to fix everything they break.”

Inside each enclosure, there is a small pool and a den. Bears love interacting with objects and feeling different textures, so the enclosure has plenty of logs, branches, and stones of various shapes that the animals can move around in various ways.

Synochok had never seen anything like this before. 

He spent nine years in a circus cage and first set foot on the grass at the sanctuary in the Zhytomyr region. Here in Chubynske, he started making himself at home: he moved stones and logs around to rearrange his den.

Maryna Shkvyria says, “A bear in a rehabilitation center is not a wild animal. It doesn’t know competition with wild relatives, doesn’t hunt, doesn’t live in large territories, and doesn’t fight for a mate. However, a bear still needs to exhibit natural behavior: climbing, running, swimming, chewing, digging the ground. And for this, we create semi-natural conditions.”

Less Is More

What makes an ideal enclosure? The Guidelines for Keeping and Breeding Wild Animals in Captivity and Semi-Free Conditions, for example, require an enclosure for one bear to be at least 200 square meters (2152 square feet). 

The residents of Bila Skelia have plenty of space. Except for Chada’s pool, which looks more like a jacuzzi. Sometimes visitors glance at the small pool sideways: maybe she needs a bigger one? 

“Chada’s pool is small so that she doesn’t drown. If something happens, we can’t pull her out by the scruff, but if we sedate her with a A syringe dart is a tool used by veterinarians to administer injections to animals from a distance. Some syringes are thrown by hand, while others are launched using a pneumatic device. dart syringe, she’ll drown before we can reach her,” explains Yehor.

Standards for keeping bears in developed countries don’t require larger spaces or deeper pools. Like in Ukraine, documents only outline minimum requirements for animal care.

To make a bear’s habitat in captivity comfortable and safe, the specific needs of the furry tenant must be considered. A bear cub to be released into the wild requires one set of conditions, while an old, injured bear needs completely different ones.

In developed countries, professional associations directly influence who keeps wild animals in captivity and how they do it. They issue licenses or fine irresponsible owners. Such associations, Yehor asserts, monitor not only compliance with regulations but also the safety and comfort of the animals. In Ukraine, this process is controlled solely by government agencies. Since not every employee is an expert in wild animal behavior, prohibitions or permissions are mostly based on numbers alone.

Tasks of Reconfiguration

The sanctuary currently has five enclosures, one of which is unfinished. So-called boxes, small enclosures for veterinary procedures, are attached at the edges.

“We don’t have direct contact with the bears. We don’t enter their enclosures — it’s dumb and dangerous. All the enclosures and boxes are connected through gates that we can open remotely. This allows us to move an animal to another enclosure if needed and enter the vacant one to clean, for instance,” explains Maryna.

These bear relocations resemble a game of sliding puzzles. For example, if you need to bring a log into Synochok’s enclosure, Chada, who lives next door, is asked to move into the box connected to her enclosure. Then Synochok is coaxed into Chada’s enclosure. Workers can enter the vacant enclosure once the gate behind the animal is closed. But how do you “ask” a bear to move?

“This is where veterinary training comes in,” explains Maryna. “When an animal is under human care, you inevitably train it to do something, like responding to its name. When we call the animal by name, the bear knows that it will get a treat if it comes to the box or another enclosure. It stays there for a while and then returns to find more water in the pool, a new toy, or something else enjoyable.

There is also target training. This method uses a predator’s natural reaction to an object. The target is an item shown to the bear. We attract the bear’s attention with a ball on a stick. It comes to the box, and we carefully give it food with special tweezers. Next time, we show the target, and the bear understands: ‘Oh, great, I need to move, I’ll get fed, and meanwhile, my slaves will clean up my home.’”

Bears are also trained to respond to gestures. For example, at Bila Skelia, closing and opening a fist is a request to show teeth. In other centers, animals are sometimes asked to stand on their hind legs and show their front ones, or lie down. This helps veterinarians quickly examine the animal from a distance before deciding on sedation.”

Wild Relationships: Abuse and Love

In the enclosure next to Synochok, there’s a commotion. Something heavy splashes into the pool. It turns out that two bears, Liubochka and Mykhasyk, have jumped into the water simultaneously. Liubochka was rescued from circus performers along with Synochok, while Mykhasyk lived in a cage at a restaurant complex.

Mykhasyk was taken from the restaurant in 2017. He was an apathetic, depressive, melancholic young bear, recalls Maryna. A year later, Liubochka arrived, then a two-year-old cub. Initially, she was also very stressed because she had lived without her mother, and bear cubs find orphanhood very difficult. Liubochka would bang against the cage, jump, and fall. The sanctuary decided to introduce Liubochka to Mykhasyk while they were still adolescents. The two quickly bonded.

Maryna says, “In their relationship, Liubochka is the leader. In nature, females are often more active and compulsive, which is true not only in bears. Liubochka always checks things first and then brings Mykhasyk along. If she fixates on something too much, he distracts her. He hugs her, sleeps next to her, calms her down. He might even give her a slap. There is abuse among bears, after all: the stronger one is the leader. However, since Liubochka is emotional and energetic, she sets the tone of the relationship. If Liubochka wakes up in the middle of winter, she’ll wake Mykhasyk because she’s bored. If she wants to swim, she’ll approach and push him into the pool. Sometimes Mykhasyk reaches for an apple in the pool, and Liubochka sneaks up on him and kicks him in the ass! He goes into the pool! While Liubochka runs away.”

In the wild, bears live solitary lives. Despite this, they sometimes display behavior akin to friendship. For example, an old and a young bear might travel together in search of food.

Usually, bears practice “free love,” but some pairs always meet during the breeding season and can maintain relationships for decades. There are also so-called spring and autumn romances: young bears that are not yet ready to mate just walk together.

Wolves, too, occasionally live at Bila Skelia: there was a polar wolf named Dzha and a gray wolf named Dora. Dzha passed away, and Dora moved to Greece, into even better conditions. Currently, a separate enclosure is occupied by Nymphadora, a half-wolf, half-dog. Poachers took her from her den as a cub. When the grown animal began to show aggression, the owner gave her away to activists.

“I see your nose, come out!” calls Maryna, but Nymphadora doesn’t want to come out of her den. Relationships between bears and wolves vary.

Dzha was friends with the bears. “She and Liubochka used to race each other!” recalls Maryna. “With gray Dora, there was no reaction. However, Liubochka wanted to play with Nymphadora, but the wolf got scared. She’s still getting used to her neighbors.”

Stereotypy in Bears

Liubochka approaches the fence, shifting from one paw to another. This is stereotypy — repetitive movements that an animal might perform to cope with stress. Animals that have lived in poor environments — cramped, dull places where they have nothing to think about or engage with — are particularly prone to stereotypy.

As Maryna explains, “Stereotypy is part of natural behavior. However, when an animal lives in unacceptable conditions, this behavior becomes more frequent and intense, sometimes leading to self-harm. Stereotypy won’t disappear entirely — the issue is the frequency and intensity of its manifestations. Maybe Liubochka is showing stereotypy now in response to positive stress: she’s curious about our dog, wondering where the bucket was taken… Most importantly, she’s not in a cage, so she can stop and do something else at any moment.”

It’s crucial to give the animal the opportunity to choose: to hide in the den if they want, to come closer to visitors if they want, to rest, or to swim. “The most important thing that circus animals lose is the ability to choose,” says Maryna. “They live in cages and don’t have the choice of where to sleep or when and what to eat. Now they have a choice. But for many rescued animals, it is very difficult to act independently and in a more natural manner.”

There’s a splashing sound coming from the next enclosure. It’s Chada, a Tien Shan bear — an endangered subspecies — splashing around in the pool. Chada spent 20 years in a cramped cage, 12 of which were in a circus.

Chada arrived at Bila Skelia in 2019. Now 26 years old, she is considered quite a respectable age for a bear. The caretakers say she acts like a fussy grandmother. Unlike the others, Chada couldn’t care less about me and my camera. She’s focused on splashing in her mini pool.

This behavior is a remnant of stereotypy, which transitioned into a softer form. In this case, it plays a positive role: it keeps the old animal active and prevents apathy.

Yehor explains, “She has her own ideas about the water level in the pool: Chada stops splashing at a certain level. Sometimes, she lowers her head and checks: if the water is too low, she snorts and shows her displeasure, as if to say, ‘Servants, replenish my water.’ They all see us as their servants.”

How a Bear Played a Joke on the Electrician

Whenever I try to film Synochok up close, he turns his back on me. It’s his sense of humor, Yehor and Maryna suggest. Do bears really have a sense of humor?

“They find something primitive funny, like ‘someone slipped on a banana peel,’” says Maryna. “They get happy when you drop something or trip. Bears have this experience, too: they fall, and you can see they can extrapolate it. They see you climb a ladder and watch. If you fall, they are delighted. If they have a chance to shake the ladder, they will.”

“They once had such an opportunity,” Yehor shares. “An electrician was working with cables on a ladder near the box where Mykhasyk was. I was standing nearby to ensure everything was safe. Mykhasyk approached, stretched out his paw, covered it with his other paw, and reached for the ladder to yank it. I noticed this. The electrician got down, and we moved the ladder. Mykhasyk was so frustrated! He even turned away. He didn’t like that his joke was ruined.”

This isn’t the only such instance, Maryna laughs: 

“Bears quickly get used to the electric fence. Some never touch it. Once, we closed the bears in the small enclosures and were working in the large ones. Our dog Rafik came with us and was walking near the electric fence. The bears realized there was a chance Rafik might get into trouble. They gathered in a row and held their breath, trying not to scare him. The dog eventually ran into the electric fence, and they jumped joyfully because they figured out how the system works.”

“Once, we had young bear cubs, and until a certain age, we would enter their enclosure,” Yehor continues. “They always tried to knock a person out. One would distract you while the other approached from behind to push you. For them, it’s a game.”

“There aren’t any complex abstractions here, but it’s already humor. It’s also a sign of intelligence,” concludes Maryna.

Bear Appétit

There is probably no other large animal around here with as varied a diet as the bear. Bears are omnivores: they can feast on both plants and meat, depending on what they find. In search of food, they spend most of their active day and can walk up to 40 kilometers (~25 miles) a day. Therefore, even in semi-natural conditions, you won’t see a dedicated feeder for a bear.

“We need to support their natural feeding behavior,” says Maryna. “Several times a day, we scatter different types of food around the enclosure so the bear has to search for it, just like it does in the wild.”

A significant part of the bears’ diet at the sanctuary consists of seafood, as well as vegetables and fruit: carrots, apples, oranges, pumpkins, and watermelons. Additionally, nuts, boiled eggs, occasional meat, cottage cheese, and a bit of dog food (for its mineral additives) are included in their diet.

“If it’s food we give only every few days, we enter the enclosure and hide it. Sometimes, we freeze fruit or fish in water and throw the ice into the pool for them to retrieve. Sometimes we bring fish in a wheelbarrow and place it under stones. It starts to smell, this grossness. They love that… Bears can even hide their food to let it age. They do this in the wild, too. So, if you see a dead deer covered with twigs, you better run,” Maryna explains.

A Bear in a Rehabilitation Center: What’s the Point?

When a bear that needs to be rescued or whose owners are giving it up is identified, sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers look for a place for it. The organization that has the appropriate conditions and expertise takes in the animal. Rescuers communicate with the owners and prepare the veterinary documents for transportation. They arrive with veterinarians who quickly examine the bear and administer sedation. The bear is transported in a special transport cage. Once at the rehabilitation center, the bear initially stays in a small enclosure to gradually get used to the new conditions. Only then does it move to an enclosure proper: first, a small one for adaptation, then a bigger one.

“We sign an agreement with all owners that they will not keep bears anymore. We aim to indirectly preserve the species by reducing the demand for keeping bear cubs. Therefore, we do not take a bear if we know that new ones will take its place,” Maryna explains. Yehor adds, “We want to contribute to the formation of civil society. Such people will not remain silent when they see animals being kept in terrible conditions.”

The co-founders of the sanctuary emphasize that proper rehabilitation involves more than rescuing an animal from negligent owners; it involves more than simply transferring it from one cage to another.

“This is a field based on science and standards that must not be violated,” says Maryna. “The number of animals kept in unacceptable conditions in captivity does not change. However, there are changes in attitudes. It is now frowned upon to go to a restaurant with a bear in a cage, and in large cities, people have started to look down on circuses with animals. The UAnimals campaign to ban traveling circuses with animals has been effective. The existence of bear sanctuaries — such as in Domazhyr and the Synevyr Park — has also made an impact. People visit rehabilitation centers and then question why a bear runs in the grass and winters in a den in some places, while elsewhere, it sits on concrete in a cage. They write about it on social media. People are gradually changing their attitudes toward wild animals in captivity.” 

Kabachok used to live in Donetsk region. Where exactly is classified as the militarymen found him on a mission. He’s a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig by breed, but more like a dog in his behavior. Out in the field and on the road, he used to live in an empty ammo box. Now, he has a much more sizable home. On his way to the shelter, Kabachok was accompanied by eight soldiers and two journalists.

“He’s completely tame. Eats everything, but we’re watching his diet so he doesn’t gain too much weight. Kabachok should be ‘sportivo’,” says Andrea Cisternino, owner of the Rifugio shelter in Lisovychi.

This svelte Italian in rubber boots used to be a fashion photographer. Now, he has chosen a different mission — taking care of hundreds of animals in northern Kyiv region.

For nearly a decade, Rifugio has been a place for homeless and poorly-treated animals to find a new home. It recently had many new arrivals from Kherson oblast, hotspot towns and villages, and also — pets of soldiers who had to leave for the front lines. Right now, the shelter is housing approximately 500 animals. Nobody knows the exact amount — once the number broke 400, the workers simply lost track. 

NOSE TO THE GRINDSTONE

“At six in the morning I light the wood stove by the kittens and puppies,” tells Natalia from Liubymivka, “while another coworker heats up the one in the kitchen and starts making porridge. Then, I clean up and go help her out. We give the porridge to the dogs, then feed the pigs and clean their enclosures. And the other person goes to wash the dishes, while I go wash the eyes of our kittens. I do whatever other procedures the animals need. After that, we go to clean the dogs’ enclosures. Switch out their water and all that.”

Work continues deep into the evening.

Natalia and her colleague take care of pigs, cats, and dogs. Three other men work with horses, goats, and sheep. The owner also often takes up the pitchfork, but he also has other duties, such as looking for funds to support the shelter. Andrea says, “My main mission is to make sure all of these animals are well-fed.”

FROM ITALY TO LISOVYCHI

Next to the enclosures at the edge of the forest, Andrea also built a photo studio. There’s not much to show right now: the corkboard only has two pictures pinned to it. One of them depicts the dogs Chupi and Bruno, the other — the supermodel Helena Christensen. Both photos were taken by Andrea. In Italy, he took pictures of top models and sportscars. Right here is where he keeps the old and weathered photographer passes for “Formula-1” and various runways.

In 2009, fashion photographer Andrea married Vlada, a Ukrainian, and moved to live with her. By that time he was already involved with animal rights activism, and he was shocked by the scale of dog hunting in Ukraine.

Back then, Kyiv was preparing for UEFA Euro 2012. In order to “clean up the streets”, homeless animals were simply put to death. Andrea says that politicians turned a blind eye to dog hunters — what’s more, the government at the time was directly complicit in animal extermination.

In Kyiv, Andrea got in touch with volunteers who took care of homeless animals. “There was one time I got a call from a volunteer who was taking care of 35 dogs. That day, 20 of them had been brutally killed. And this is just one of dozens of cases that I have documented. Every day, I brought more evidence to Ukrainian politicians, and each time they shrugged and said they knew nothing about it,” says Andrea.

After that, he began publicly protesting animal cruelty in Ukraine. In response, dog hunters published Andrea’s private information on their websites. Since then, the Italian Embassy has assigned him a personal bodyguard.

Andrea and his wife Vlada set one question for themselves: what constructive steps can be taken to rescue homeless dogs? That was when the couple decided to create a shelter — but founding a shelter required massive funding.

What happened next was something straight out of a movie.

On Christmas Eve in Milan, Andrea met a woman who read one of his interviews and asked to meet with him.

“We had coffee together and talked for an hour and a half. Then she asked me if I had any pressing concerns. I said that we had many, but the most important was purchasing land so we wouldn’t get kicked out. She immediately wrote out a check for the required sum. It was a Christmas miracle.”

Rifugio began construction in 2014. At first, Andrea started taking in homeless dogs.

In the very first year, the shelter was struck by a fire. 71 animals died that day. Andrea shows a tattoo on his arm. “Always in my heart.” It’s dedicated to the dogs who passed that day.

The police found no signs of arson, and so no case was opened. But eventually, the culprits came forward of their own accord with an apology. They said they didn’t know what Andrea was doing and why. This apology confirmed Andrea’s suspicion that arson had indeed occurred, but his lawyer convinced him not to sue.

Andrea did not give up because of the tragedy. On the contrary, Rifugio now houses five times as many animals as back in the day and not just dogs. The shelter gets by mainly thanks to Italian sponsors. The shelter also established connections with Ukrainian volunteers. The townspeople, Andrea says, help out as well.

“The locals nowadays see our shelter very differently, all thanks to years of hard work. With our Italian friends, we organized free sterilization days, and people would bring their pets to us. Some of the townsfolk work here, too. If all I used to see before in Ukraine were dog hunters, then now we get daily phone calls asking for help, or people bringing in homeless animals on their own,” Andrea tells us.

And to think that very recently, the shelter had a very real chance of disappearing for good.

40 DAYS OF OCCUPATION

“I was cleaning the stables when I heard two russian fighter jets overhead. One of them started descending. I thought it was going to shoot, and that’d be the end of our shelter. The jet got so low to the ground I could see the pilot,” Andrea says as he describes the spring of 2022.

Later in the afternoon of February 24th, the shelter was abuzz with fighter jets and helicopters. Aircraft battles took place right above the village. Andrea shows us an audio recording of the explosions, “Day and night it was like this, day and night.”

“One of the worst moments happened when we heard that russians were running out of food,” says Andrea. The shelter ran out of food too, on occasion, whether for humans or animals. Even though the staff were making stockpiles a month before the invasion, by the middle of March they had nearly run out.

Andrea lost 12 kilograms and even broke two ribs.

“I was cleaning the stables, slipped, and broke two ribs. Naturally, I couldn’t just go to the russian or chechen soldiers to get patched up. I grit my teeth and waited for Ukrainian soldiers to liberate our territory.”

Natalia lost weight too: she gave part of her rations to the dogs she was taking care of. The shelter staff knew that aid for animals was coming through to Kyiv, but between Lisovychi and the nearest blockpost lay thirty kilometers — a distance nobody could risk braving at the time.

Andrea received offers to evacuate on more than one occasion. Even during the occupation, the Italian embassy insisted he leave the country, even going as far as to develop a plan and receive approval from the military…

“I asked, ‘Will you take everyone — my employees and animals, too?’ They said no, just me. So I stayed with my animals,” tells Andrea.

In total, Andrea spent 40 days in occupation, though he only managed to count that after the fact.

On April 2nd, he says, at a very unusually quiet time he heard a car horn. Strangers were at the shelter. Did the russians climb the fence? One of them shouted in Italian, “Andrea, hello, it’s me!”

“Russian soldiers speaking Italian? Impossibile!” recounts Andrea.

In reality, standing by the gates were the Italian journalist Claudio, translator Tetiana, and a Ukrainian volunteer. Waiting by the fence was a car with supplies — and a Ukrainian flag flying on the roof.

“I thought I was dreaming. Only when Claudio hugged me and I felt the pain, I remembered my broken ribs and understood — this is real.”

MEET THE VIPS

The first large animal at the shelter was a cow by the name of Margo. Now, she also has company in Mikaela. And right next door are two more esteemed signoras.

“Frieda, Frieda, Kapla!” Andrea calls out. Finally, two considerably-sized pigs waddle out of the barn, squinting from the sun. “Oh, buongiorno!”

Above all else, these refined dames love getting mud baths and scratches. The pigs can tell people apart and even respond to pet names.

Aside from domestic pigs, there are also two Vietnamese ones: the already familiar Kabachok and Harry. Though he is Kabachok’s closest relative, their personalities couldn’t be more different. Harry can only be found in the barn, sleeping in the hay. He’s chewing in his sleep, showing off his sizable tusks. Sleeping is his favorite hobby.

“Harry befriended a duck around here,” says Andrea. “Other ducks were bullying her, so she found safety in his company. They sleep and eat together.”

Marcio, Ser, Mina, Mami, Annushka, Roza, and Lola are the sheep community at the shelter. They arrived here from large farms where animals are raised for meat. That’s also how the shelter found their chickens, geese, and ducks.

The goats peek out from the barn. It almost looks like they want to give an interview of their own — and boy, do they have stories to tell. Take Berbek, for example this billy was wandering on his lonesome by the belorussian border when the locals found him and suggested Andrea take him in.

Mary the pony was on her way to a slaughterhouse when Andrea picked her up. Later it was found that Mary was pregnant when she got rescued: she gave birth to Op, and he is no pony at all. The stallion lives in the same enclosure as his mom and is nearly thrice as big as she is.

The racehorse Voron would have similarly ended his career at the slaughterhouse were it not for the shelter’s staff. Thelma and Louise came under Andrea’s care from the mounted police. Another mare by the name of Tatanka used to live in the same pasture with them — she died in 2023 because of a russian rocket that fell next to the shelter. Tatanka’s heart stopped then and there.

“And this one here is from Lisovychi,” Andrea shows us the gray Baron. “He spent his whole life as a workhorse. A woman from the village brought him in because two of her sons enlisted in the army, and she couldn’t take care of him on her own. Careful, he bites! Though… seems like he’s in a good mood today.”

Cats’ apartments

The cats have a separate space from the other animals. Here we can find former strays: some were brought in by Andrea, others by volunteers. As soon as I step in through the door, they cling to me and start purring. Some are trying to climb into my lap, some — onto my shoulders, and all of them are sniffing me curiously all over. You can pick them up by the armfuls, that’s how many there are. 

The feline enclosure is comfortable and fully furnished. People from Lisovychi donated a sofa for the cats specifically. Andrea points to the WC sign: “Our cats can read.”

Outside, Natalia is hard at work. “Cats were trying to drink from the mop bucket, I took it outside,” Andrea says in Italian. “Ah, I had to run to break up the dogs and forgot all about it,” Natalia replies in Ukrainian. “I understand his Italian,” she says. “How? Sometimes through a translator. And then, after a while, you learn to understand each other bit by bit.”

She picks up a stick off the ground and leads me to a completely different world — the world of dogs.

POTAP, DON’T BOTHER BABAIKA!

“Everyone! Quiet down, kids!” Natalia waves the branch around in front of the enclosures.

“You call them ‘kids’?”

“I mean, that’s what they are. Though we call some by their patronymic, too. We’ve got Dina Nikolaievna and Tamara Petrivna.”

The dog enclosure reminds me of a long apartment building, full to the brim with canine residents of all kinds — cheerful and melancholic, friendly and not so much. I can point at any dog here at random and Natalia will know its story from beginning to end:

“I assign them enclosures by personality. Here we have six dogs, and they all get along just fine. We could probably add another calm dog here no problem. When Harold moved in, he was an instant leader. Doesn’t bully anyone, it’s just that he might go around sniffing everyone’s bowls — and only when he’s done, everyone starts eating… And the more aggressive ones, you need to group them up with dogs that have character. They set each other straight. Dina Nikolaievna, shush! Potap, don’t bother Babaika! And this one is Hera. Hera, come here. She’s really smart. Hera, who was making all that noise in the enclosure, hmm? Who did that?”

To feed them all, the workers cook 300 liters of porridge every day. 

“Two of us use mopeds to get around, takes about 40 minutes to feed everyone. And this enclosure we call Verkhovna Rada. Liashko, come here! He’s the most talkative of the bunch. That one’s Poroshenko — the chubby one,” Natalia introduces us to the rest of her dogs. “Behave, I said!” she shouts to the “deputies”.

Many of the dogs here were brought by volunteers from frontline territories. For example, this shepherd from Mariupol was found among ruins by a couple driving out of the city. They just picked it off the road and took it with them.

There are also arrivals from Kherson. Andrea already arranged for four Kherson dogs to be transferred to Italy. Two more are getting ready for their trip.

“We had two dogs come in from Kherson recently,” says Natalia. “They lived in apartments. Enclosures like this were foreign to them. Stasik here… He spent all his time in his dog house, curled up and crying. So we brought him a proper bed and made a little room for him. Two others from Kherson are going to Italy soon. Stasik is already there.”

Later we run into Cefina, an American Staffordshire terrier, who made herself at home in the boiler room. There’s also the playful Lulu and the giant, though no less playful, Lucky. In Rifugio, these dogs are waiting for their masters who are defending Ukraine on the battlefield.