For nearly a month, the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been under constant fire from Russia. Despite the civilian casualties and the destruction of the energy infrastructure, most of the residents are still there, reports Voice of America (VOA), quoted by NOVA.
Volunteers from the Kharkiv Animal Rescue Center are risking their lives to save animals from frontline villages where Russia has renewed its attempt to occupy the Kharkiv region. “We have thousands of phone calls. The people there were already under occupation in 2022, so now everyone fled quickly. "Many of them did not manage to take their pets with them," said Yarina Vintonyuk.
However, 120 employees and volunteers at the Kharkiv Animal Rescue Center have chosen to stay. Vintonyuk notes that in the month of May alone, they saved over a thousand animals. They take care of them and try to find them a new home. According to her, this is a small contribution to Ukraine's victory.
Maria Kornienko, co-owner of a bakery in Kharkiv, which opened its doors 4 months ago, also thinks so. “Six months ago we won a small business financing grant. "Without hesitation, we decided to open a bakery in Kharkiv despite the rocket fire," she says. Kornienko also says that she recently counted 13 explosions in just one hour, but she has no plans to move her business. “Donors immediately offered to help us move to Kyiv or Poltava. But we refused. As long as we can, we will help our fellow citizens”, she points out. When the power goes out, people come to her to make tea or cook their food in her oven.
Marianna Mats is not leaving Kharkiv for personal reasons. She lost her husband, who served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, late last year. He was killed on the eastern front line. “I didn't want to leave the city as my husband was fighting on the eastern front. He died at the end of last year. "He is forever in Kharkiv, so staying here was a way for me to be close to him," she says. The widow is now a volunteer for the battalion of the fallen Ukrainian soldier and says that she is already used to the explosions.