EXCLUSIVE The cats of war: Amid the carnage of the front line, Ukraine's bravest fighters are finding solace by adopting strays who offer cuddles, comfort - and a lethal talent for clearing trenches of mice...
By Richard Pendlebury and Jamie Wiseman Published: 12:08 EDT, 28 June 2024 | Updated: 15:42 EDT, 28 June 2024 e-mail 25 shares 36 View comments Murka is a timid little cat who lost a rear leg to Russian artillery fire in a frontline village in Donetsk. She still won't allow herself to be petted by the Ukrainian soldiers who tended her wounds and saved her life. But as she is a stray and no longer able to hunt efficiently, she is dependent on them for food.
And so Murka has become a ghostly, hopping presence on the margins of their field kitchen. The soldiers make sure she doesn't go hungry. Another cat, Dusia, was abandoned when her civilian owners fled the Russian advance and is now under the care of a fire support company of the frontline 41st Brigade.
Meanwhile, a tabby called Pixel has a new home in a bunker she shares with doting artillerymen. Ukrainian soldiers Sasha, left, Andri and Roman at an animal therapy clinic where the cats help them to relax and reduce their depression Tabby cat Pixel was a stray kitten when she was adopted by the 41st Brigade gunners. She now has a new home in a bunker she shares with artillerymen Roman is an infantryman whose leg was shattered by machine gun fire in the summer fighting of 2022.
We meet him in a psychological therapy uni.
