[Animals] Brave hero stays in Ukraine to protect 400 rescue animals from Russian bombings

[FazzNoth]

Animal shelter owner Andrea Cisternino has vowed to stay in Kyiv to protect his rescue animals from harm's way - and said he would 'rather die' than leave them behind

As Ukrainians braces for "more violence" from Vladimir Putin's army, many residents have been fleeing their homes in search of safety elsewhere.

While others have chosen to stay behind to protect those unable to help themselves.

Andrea Cisternino, who owns an animal shelter near Kyiv, has reportedly said he would "rather die" than leave behind his 400 rescue animals - including dogs, goats, cows and horses.

He said on Facebook : “I will stay with my animals and the shelter. I won’t abandon them after saving them."

Despite seeing Russian military helicopters fly over his shelter in recent days, Italian-born Andrea has been stocking up on supplies for his animals and ensuring their safety throughout the attacks in Kyiv and Kharkiv.

He has been labelled a "hero" by animal lovers who have been supporting his "mission to save abused and abandoned animals", with many sending their "hope and prayers" his way.

One said on Twitter : "For the past two days, I haven’t stopped thinking about Andrea Cisternino, the animal shelter owner in Ukraine who refused to leave his 400 animals behind."

Another said: "Andrea Cisternino stays in the Ukraine to protect stray dogs. Even in war, he will not give up his mission. God forbid! What a wonderful human being."

A third said: "He says he will rather die than abandon his animals. Please keep Andrea and his rescue in our prayers."

Hoping "common sense will prevail in the end among all", Andrea says he can now only update his followers when something major happens - but has thanked them all for their well wishes.

Andrea worked as a professional fashion photographer for 20 years before moving to Ukraine in 2010.

Swapping fashion for animal welfare, he opened a photography studio in Kyiv and released his first photo album dedicated to homeless animals and people one year later.

Touched by his work, an Italian couple donated a 40,000-square-metre plot of land to Andrea to provide him with a place to help the animals he captured on film.

During the invasion so far, Russia has announced 4,500 of its solders have died and 16 Ukrainian children have been killed.

Andrea added: "This morning the sky around the refuge was red. Continuous artillery firing even through the night, can't sleep.

"I saw 15 minutes ago an artillery shot falling far from the refuge but I could smell the gunpowder well. I heard military columns in the distance they moved, planes flew by."

It comes as Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, this morning warned the world should "brace ourselves for what may come next, which could be ruthless, indiscriminate bombing of cities and propelling forward of soldiers and huge casualty levels".

Mr Wallace told BBC Breakfast: "[Russia] are behind schedule, they are taking significant casualties and they are feeling public rejection in parts of the Russian system itself; we've seen many protests.

 

"But the Russian handbook is to then get more violent and commit more forces because fundamentally in the Russian, sort of, doctrine the lives of their own soldiers matter much less than in other armed forces."

Mr Wallace said President Putin's nuclear threats were part of a "battle of rhetoric" but insisted the UK would take his warnings very seriously.

"We don't see or recognise in the sort of phrase or the status he described as anything that is a change to what they have currently as their nuclear posture," he said.

"This is predominantly about Putin putting it on the table just to remind people, remind the world, that he has a deterrent."

He added: "We will not do anything to escalate in that area, we will not do anything to feed any miscalculation, we take it very, very seriously.

"But at the moment this is a battle of rhetoric that President Putin is deploying, and we just have to make sure we manage it properly."

 

Mr Wallace said the UK "will do everything we can to support the Ukrainians", with more details due later today.

Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said senior ministers had indicated the UK could follow the EU in taking in Ukrainian refugees for up to three years.

Asked whether the UK had gone far enough, the Tory MP told the BBC: "I've been speaking to ministers this morning and I can tell you there are many who are hopeful that this will be something that's reviewed in the coming days."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/brave-hero-stays-ukraine-protect-26347000