73-year-old resident of Oleshky in the Kherson region, Nadiya Dubova, left the temporarily occupied left-bank area together with five pets — two dogs and three cats.
A photo of the woman with the animals was published by volunteer Ksenia Arkhipova, who helps evacuate civilians from occupied territories, BBC reports.
Nadiya Dubova’s family lived in Oleshky. After the start of the occupation in 2022, her daughter and her husband left first. The woman herself for a long time refused to leave the town because of the animals.
In 2023, during the flooding of Oleshky after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, Nadiya, together with the animals, spent several days on the roof of a house, from where volunteers evacuated her. Later she moved to an apartment in another district of the city.
In August the woman was injured as a result of shelling and spent almost three months in the hospital. After treatment, with the help of volunteers, she and her animals were evacuated from the occupied area. The evacuation covered several thousand kilometers and passed, in particular, through the territory of Belarus.
Currently Nadiya Dubova is living with her daughter in the Kyiv region and continues her treatment. All the animals are with her.
About how to leave the occupied left-bank area you can read here.