When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, many Ukrainians fleeing the war, willingly or unwillingly, abandoned their pets. One woman, living alone in the basement of her shelled building, took it upon herself to look after the well-being of her neighborhood's cats.
The Good Samaritan Of Kharkiv Who Looks After 100 Cats
- By RFE/RL
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Natalia Pasternak, 68, has been walking through her neighborhood's bombed-out buildings every morning since the war began, bringing food to abandoned cats.
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Saltivka, the part of Kharkiv she calls home, once had 500,000 residents, making it one of Europe's largest neighborhoods. As a result of the heavy bombardment, it is now a ghost town, with burned-out buildings and few residents remaining.
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After her neighbors fled, Pasternak became the building's sole occupant, living in the basement with a dozen of her feline friends. "Cats accompany me all the time; I can’t keep them away. When other cats come, they are restrained, but mine climb on me like locusts."
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"(When the war started) the cats hid, they ran and were afraid. They were staying upstairs in my apartment but many were burned, and many died from heart attacks, because the bodies were intact. They don’t take these explosions very well."
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Pasternak brings food to the cats who live in their abandoned homes. To afford their food, she has been doing odd jobs like mending clothes. Her relatives and other volunteers have also been helping.
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Pasternak cleans the cups she uses to feed and water the cats. "They are defenseless, so when people leave them behind, they get no food. I don’t know (why I care for them). This comes from my early childhood; I have been like this since I was a child."
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She uses the light from her mobile phone to locate food bowls for abandoned cats still living in their homes.
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One of the many cats Pasternak checks on is a newborn kitten. Some of the cats she cares for belong to families who requested assistance, while others she finds in destroyed flats. She estimates that she looks after up to 100 cats and kittens.
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A cat awaits Pasternak's arrival in the basement of the building where they live. The cats rely on her but she says they also provide her with company.
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Pasternak cuddles one of the 12 cats she looks after in the basement she calls home. "I don't need anything else. They understand everything," she said.
