KHARKIV, UKRAINE - JULY 21: A Ukrainian soldier is seen with a dog along the frontline in south of Kharkiv, Ukraine on July 21, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Through two years of war, the people of Ukraine have kept their pets close despite challenging conditions.
A Ukrainian serviceman and a husky during a training session
A serviceman from the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces is hunkering down by a Husky as he trains to use a 120mm mortar on December 28, 2023. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldier in a trench with his dog
A Ukrainian soldier is seen with his dog in a trench in his fighting position in the direction of Gorlivka in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on November 26, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian tank crew with a dog nearby
This photograph taken on December 13, 2023 shows a dog sitting in the snow next to a Ukrainian tank crew in a position near to the town of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
A woman caring for abandoned pets in a frontline city
Lida takes care of several abandoned cats and dogs as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in the frontline city of Huliaipole, Ukraine on May 11, 2023. The city is still heavy damaged and being bombed by planes. The city has lacked water and electrical power since March 2022. (Photo by Andre Alves/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Woman walking her dog past her destroyed building
Tatiana Chvalun, 70, walks her dog Buru past her residential building, which was destroyed as a result of shelling in March 2022, killing 54 people, in the town of Izyum, Kharkiv region. (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
A woman walks her dogs next to damaged buildings
A local resident walks with her dogs next to a damaged residential building in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, on January 5, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian soldier seen befriending a stray dog
Ukrainian soldier Genadi is seen with a stray dog in front of an armored vehicle as they continue in the direction of Bakhmut on the Donetsk front line. (Photo by Muhammed Enes Yldrm/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A Ukranian police officer with his sniffer dog at a checkpoint
Andriy Symchuk, National Police officer of Lviv region, stands with “Bars,” his sniffer dog, at a checkpoint in Izyum, Kharkiv region, on September 25, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
A girl sits with her dog and cat in a subway station
A girl sits with her dog and cat in the Dorohozhychi subway station which has been turned into a bomb shelter on March 02, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
A man and his dog sheltering in an underground metro station
A man and his dog are seen resting at the metro station in Kharkiv. Citizens in Kharkiv have been forced to adopt to a new life underground in metro stations, as the second biggest city in Ukraine now faces constant threat of Russian bombardment and airstrikes. (Photo by Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A girl is seen with her puppy in a railway station
A girl affected by the Dnipro river flood evacuates to Lviv from the Kherson railway station with her puppy. Many people near the river shore lost their home under the waters after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam by explosives, on June 11, 2023. (Photo by Celestino Arce/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Army sergeant plays with a dog while on duty in the Bakhmut district
Sergeant Runa plays with a dog during combat duty on November 10, 2023, in the Bakhmut District of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces continue to fight to retake Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May, following a yearlong war battle. Over the summer, Ukraine regained territory north and south of Bakhmut but Russia has held the city itself. (Photo by Kostya Liberov/Libkos via Getty Images)
A Ukranian soldier seen with a dog along the front line
A Ukrainian soldier is seen with a dog along the front line south of Kharkiv, Ukraine on July 21, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian soldier plays with dogs as he holds his position at the front line
A Ukrainian soldier plays with dogs as he holds his position at the front line near the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Horlivka, Donetsk region, on December 14, 2023. (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
A man holds his dog while standing in front of a house in ruins
Oleksandr Ivashchenko holds his dog in his arms and stands in front of a ruined house on February 1, 2023 in Bilohirka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. At the beginning of the full-scale war, due to the Russian occupation, all the inhabitants of the village of Bilohirka in the Kherson Oblast, numbering up to a hundred, left. The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the settlement in September 2022, but the people have nowhere to return to — Russian shells destroyed all the houses. (Photo by Yurii Tynnyi/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
A woman and her dog asess the damage to their home following an attack
An elderly woman stands with her dog in her damaged house following a Russian shelling attack in Kherson in April 2023. (Photo by Aziz Karimov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
One of the most endearing qualities about Ukrainians is their kindness and love of animals.
What a missed opportunity.
Not a single mention of the people and groups working to save orphaned, injured and abandoned domestic animals in Ukraine.
The Hachiko Foundation is one group, but I’m sure there are others.