Bombed and Abandoned: 200 Dogs Trapped Under Rubble After Russian Drone Strike
During a deadly night of drone attacks in Ukraine, a shelter in Odessa housing nearly 200 dogs was reduced to ruins. Volunteers wept as they searched through the debris, asking: “Are dogs now military targets too?”
A Shelter Destroyed in the Night
On the night of June 20, 2025, Russian forces launched a large-scale drone assault targeting the Ukrainian regions of Odessa, Kharkiv, and Poltava. Among the buildings struck was an animal shelter in Odessa—home to over 200 rescue dogs.
Khrystyna Dragomaretska, president of the Place Under the Sun animal welfare association, confirmed the destruction. "Today is a day to forget. Our shelter is gone… Is this really a military target?" she asked in a heart-wrenching video posted online.
The attack also hit multiple residential and civilian buildings, sparking fires and leaving widespread devastation.
“The Dogs Were the Threat This Time”
A now-viral video from the organization shows exhausted volunteers digging through rubble in search of animals. Some dogs had survived, injured and terrified. Others were not so lucky.
“This time, the threat wasn’t missiles—it was crates of dog food and cages full of animals,” said Dragomaretska. Her association cares for hundreds of dogs spread across Odessa’s shelters.
The official toll from the raids stands at one person killed and 14 injured, including emergency service workers. But among the silent victims of war are the countless animals—and the volunteers who risk their lives daily to protect them.
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War-Torn Lives: The Cost of Staying Behind
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Odessa has faced constant bombardment due to its critical air defense systems and strategic position on the Black Sea. Yet many civilians—and animal defenders—have chosen to stay.
For animal rescuers, the work has never been harder. Every day, they face impossible choices: evacuate and leave animals behind, or remain and risk death to care for them.
While some Ukrainians fled the war zone with their pets, thousands of animals were abandoned amid the chaos. Adding to the crisis, countries like Italy banned the importation of dogs from Eastern Europe, severely complicating rescue efforts and international adoptions.
Volunteers in Tears, But Not Defeated
Despite everything—the bombings, the bans, the fear—Ukraine’s animal defenders remain on the ground, doing what they can.
The night the Odessa shelter was hit, volunteers rushed to the scene, not to protect buildings, but to pull whimpering dogs from burning rubble. Their grief was palpable, but so was their resolve.
“These dogs didn’t choose war. They didn’t choose to become targets. But they need us more than ever,” said one volunteer in the footage shared on social media.
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