Some of them are not stray cats but house cats rescued from shelled villages and they are helping boost morale and protect soldiers who are living and fighting in the area. Around 15 cats had taken up residence together with the soldiers in Volodymyr’s section of the trenches.
“They were abandoned. They had to fend for themselves. We have to feed them,” Volodymyr said, pouring leftover soup for the cats.
A military medical attendant said: “the cats give a morale boost to homesick soldiers.”
He added: ‘They are like an anti-depressant – they lift your mood. You call them, and a whole swarm of them comes running your way. And you immediately feel better.’
One of the soldiers is full of praise for his black hunting cat, Chanukah.
Another soldier shares his blissful experience: “You come back to the post, lie down on the bed, and the cat lies on your stomach wanting to be petted; It’s a sᴇᴅᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ.”
After spending months on the frontline with their adopted strays, some soldiers have ended up taking their new comrades home, away from the fighting.
Another ғɪɢʜᴛᴇʀ – a military medical attendant known as Rodon – said the cats give a morale boost to homesick soldiers.
He said: ‘They are like an ᴀɴᴛɪ-ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇssᴀɴᴛ – they lift your mood.
‘You call them, and a whole swarm of them comes running your way. And you immediately feel better.’
Besides soldiers, Rodon also treats dogs and gives them treatments from his own medicine chest.
