New film shows the toll Russia’s invasion has taken on animals in Ukraine
John: The war in Ukraine has upended the lives of millions of people. It has also disrupted the lives of an untold number of animals, both pets and zoo animals. Some were left for days without food or water, traumatized by the sounds war. Next Wednesday’s episode of pbs’s nature is called "Saving the animals of Ukraine." It tells how war-torn Ukrainians are reclaiming a bit of their humanity by rescuing animals. Earlier I spoke with the director, Anton ptushkin, about how the film came about. Anton: It was February 2022 and it was just the beginning of the full scale invasion from Russia side. And, you know, there was a vast majority of photos and videos with people from Ukraine trying to save themselves and their animals. And we were so moved by this footage, you know, because it was some kind of light of hope amidst these dark times. So we decided to just develop this topic and eventually, you know, made this documentary. John: You show us a lot of stories about many animals. Some of them, very tragic. Some of them, happier. One of the happier ones is about the jack Russell terrier named patron. Started out as the pet for a young boy, and now, is actually serving his country in a way of enlisted into the, into the war effort. Tell us about patreon and what he’s doing. Anton: Basically, he’s sniffing the bombs. And for me, the stories like speak volumes because patron was just a regular dog. You know, he just wants to play and just to walk, but because his father, you know, dog parent Michael, he’s a colonel of engineer troops of Ukraine. He’s looking for the mines. So that’s why patron start looking for the mines as well. Eventually this dog become, like, a symbol of resilience of Ukraine. And he become, I believe, for the first time in history of unicef, he becomes like a good real ambassadog. John: You also show us animals who have been severely traumatized. I think of the the lion named bretzel. You know, he lived through a Russian missile barrage in Kyiv. Tell us a little bit about him. Anton: It turned out that animals, they almost, share the same suffering as people. And, the story of poor lion who was being kept in a cage in donetsk region, which is almost like a front line. And he was bombarded, you know, this area was bombarded many times. And this poor lion, he had like, severe symptoms of PTSD. He was trying to break away the cage, and he smashed his face against the cage. So eventually he was evacuated to Spain come into the place that we can call, like, let’s say animal rehabilitation center. And he completely recovered. You wouldn’t believe. Like, this is completely normal, lion right now. I remember him, like, a year ago, and he was just roaring. Every time you came close to the cage. But right now, he’s he’s completely recovered. John: There were other powerful stories that you told about animals that went long periods of time without food or water. Shafa, a cat that was stranded on the seventh floor of a building for 60 days. The rest of the building, had been destroyed. And you spoke with producer Kate porter nova, who was one of the first to spot shafa. Anton: — >> I came to them and said, look guys, I’m so grateful that’s having so much disaster and misery around you right now with people. You find time to help animals in such cases. And he replied to me, we don’t care if it’s an animal or a human being, where rescue, — we are a rescue service and every life matters to us. I mean, that was a point when you just start crying, you know? John: Anton, earlier you talked about these stories illustrating hope in dark times. What do you think these stories say about the spirit and the character of the Ukrainian people, in this dark time of war? Anton: You know, for me, all these documentaries also about people, about resilience and about the moral aspect of Ukrainians. Because as one of the main talents of our documentary said, like, your attitude towards animals is basically your attitude towards people. You start to save animals and then animals saved you because help you drastically. Just to cope with the stress and those stories, I mean, they it really bring us some hope. John: As you may know, there was a there was a controversy in the United States about continued aid to Ukraine in this war effort. Are you hoping that this film will remind people in the united States, around the world that this is still going on, that Ukraine still needs help and aid? Anton: Yes. That’s my dream, actually. And I just came back from Ukraine. A couple days ago, I lost my friend in this horrible war, unfortunately. You know, this these story is, we people of Ukraine, we become kind of, get used to. I mean, it may sound cynical, but we get used to such stories, but I believe that people are — people of America, people in the world, after watching this documentary, yeah, they feel this idea that the war is still going. We don’t need to forget about those horrible events that are going on in my country. John: Filmmaker Anton pushkin. We are very sorry for your loss and thank you for your time today. Anton: Thank you. Thank you for having me. ♪♪
The war in Ukraine has upended the lives of millions of people. It’s also disrupted the lives of an untold number of animals, both pets and zoo animals. An upcoming episode of Nature on PBS, “Saving the Animals of Ukraine,” documents how war-torn Ukrainians are reclaiming humanity by rescuing animals. John Yang speaks with director Anton Ptushkin about the film.
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