Earlier today, a spokesperson for the United Nations International Organization for Migration said they estimate that more than 3 million people have now fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on February 24. Families fleeing the violence are limited in what they can carry, but many are making the effort to bring their beloved pets with them, uncertain of what lies ahead. Some pets that have been left behind, or are unable to be cared for, are also being rescued by organizations in neighboring countries. Gathered here are images of some of the refugee cats and dogs of Ukraine being cared for as family members, and brought to safety.
Animals Can Be Refugees Too
Hints:
View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
-
![A woman carries a medium-size dog across a path in the rubble of a destroyed bridge, as several other people walk behind her.]()
Read moreA woman carries a dog while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge, as people flee the town of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 5, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
-
![A person carries a large cat, as it rests its chin on her shoulder.]()
Read moreA woman carries her cat as she walks near Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station, in Kyiv, on the morning of February 24, 2022. #
Daniel Leal / AFP / Getty -
![A woman holding a small dachshund wipes her eye, standing near a younger person.]()
Read moreYulia Vigrinyak, from Mykolaiv, cries as she holds her dog at the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing in Romania after fleeing Ukraine, on March 14, 2022. #
Stoyan Nenov / Reuters -
![A person kneels beside a small cage holding a dog, behind an open van.]()
Read moreVolunteers arrive with more than 50 dogs and cats at the ADA Foundation in Przemyśl, Poland, on March 8, 2022. Pets are among the hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in Poland since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The ADA Foundation was started to provide shelter for abandoned animals. Its priority now is to provide food, medicine, and medical assistance to animals in Ukraine, but mostly to evacuate animals into Poland. The organization has been able to evacuate more than 300 animals that have been brought to Lviv from the eastern part of the country. #
Omar Marques / Getty -
-
![Several dogs stand in an enclosure with their muzzles up to the bars.]()
Read moreDogs are seen in an animal shelter at Orzechowce, close to Przemyśl, Poland, near the Ukrainian border, on March 10, 2022. The shelter welcomed 38 dogs and 32 cats from Ukraine on March 9, 2022, taken from Kyiv by the German organization White Paw in several cars. "Many owners travel with their dogs and cats and they don't have anything for them, they are leaving home so fast. So after work here, I go to the center to bring some food to those animals," the shelter's manager said. White Paw is evacuating not only animals from Ukrainian shelters, but also the organization's Ukrainian volunteers to the west. #
Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP / Getty -
![A veterinary assistant carries two cats in carriers, from a room filled with about 20 cat carriers.]()
Read moreA veterinary assistant carries cats from a group of 20 at the ADA Foundation on March 8, 2022, in Przemyśl, Poland. #
Omar Marques / Getty -
![A cat peeks out of a zippered opening, while being carried.]()
Read moreA woman carries her cat as she crosses a destroyed bridge during the evacuation of the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 8, 2022. #
Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty -
-
![A small dog sits beside a person lying down and looking at their phone.]()
Read moreAlina and her dog Lucky wait to board an evacuation train to western regions, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 1, 2022. #
Pierre Crom / Getty -
![A soft yellow bag, seen opened, with more than a half-dozen small puppies inside]()
Read moreA bag full of puppies, carried by a Ukrainian family to a railway station after crossing the border at Záhony-Csap, as they fled Ukraine on March 6, 2022, in Budapest, Hungary #
Janos Kummer / Getty -
![A woman carries a cat while crossing a river on a path through a destroyed bridge.]()
Read moreA woman carries a cat while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a destroyed bridge on March 5, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
-
![A woman comforts her child as a small pet dog looks on.]()
Read moreA woman comforts her child as a pet dog looks on, at a refugee shelter after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Beregsurány, Hungary, on March 7, 2022. #
Bernadett Szabo / Reuters -
![A person carries a cat in a transparent backpack in a train station. The longhair cat is slightly too big, and appears smashed inside the bag.]()
Read moreA Ukrainian civilian takes shelter with a cat in their backpack at the Przemyśl train station, 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, in Przemyśl, Poland, on February 28, 2022. #
Abdulhamid Hosbas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A small dog sits on a bench, wrapped in a blanket.]()
Read moreA refugee dog, Milochka, keeps warm at Záhony train station after arriving from Ukraine with his owners on March 5, 2022, in Záhony, Hungary. #
Christopher Furlong / Getty -
-
![A woman wearing a warm coat leans over to cuddle the small dog she carries zipped inside.]()
Read moreA woman cuddles a dog at the train station after fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Záhony, Hungary, on March 3, 2022. #
Bernadett Szabo / Reuters -
![A group of refugees and volunteers moves near a tent, one couple carrying a large cage with several small dogs inside.]()
Read morePeople carry evacuated dogs after crossing from Ukraine into Poland, at the Medyka border crossing, on March 7, 2022. #
Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP / Getty -
![A person holds a cat inside a bag as it meows.]()
Read moreA cat meows in its owner's bag after fleeing from Kiev to Romania, at the border crossing in Siret, on March 10, 2022. #
Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters -
-
![A small dog sleeps in a travel bag, its head poking out of the zippered top.]()
Read moreBetti the dog sleeps in a bag after crossing from Ukraine in Medyka, Poland, on March 9, 2022. #
Daniel Cole / AP -
![A young girl carries a cat while seated in a bus.]()
Read moreRimma, a 3-year-old girl evacuated from the Mariupol area, holds a cat on a bus before leaving a refugee camp in the settlement of Bezymennoye for the territory of Russia during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022. #
Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters -
![An older woman sits in a wheelchair holding the leashes of at least 6 small dogs.]()
Read moreAntonina, age 84, sits in a wheelchair after being evacuated along with her 12 dogs from Irpin, at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 11, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
-
![A group of refugees walk near tents, as one carries a small dog in their arms.]()
Read moreA girl holds her pet after crossing the Ukrainian border into Poland at Medyka, on March 9, 2022. #
Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP / Getty -
![A small dog wearing a jacket stands among people, leaning on a suitcase.]()
Read moreA dog is seen among refugees from Ukraine who arrived at a bus station in Kraków, Poland, on March 11, 2022. #
Beata Zawrzel / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A woman sitting on a cot plays with a small dog as another person on a cot nearby looks on.]()
Read moreA woman plays with her dog in a temporary shelter in a high-school gym in Przemyśl, near the Ukraine-Poland border, on March 15, 2022. #
Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP / Getty -
-
![A man carries a medium-sized dog across a river, walking on a wide plank through rubble.]()
Read moreA man carries his dog as he flees fighting in Irpin via a destroyed bridge after Russian forces entered the city on March 7, 2022. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![A woman leans down to kiss the head of a cat she carries, with a teardrop visible on her cheek.]()
Read moreA woman who was evacuated from Irpin cries while kissing a cat wrapped in a blanket at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 11, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.