An Italian national who runs an animal refuge in Ukraine vowed to stay by his pets’ sides on Sunday, telling Argentina’s Clarin newspaper he would rather “die” in Ukraine amid its ongoing military invasion by Russia than leave the shelter.
“I have decided to stay. I prefer to die here for my animals,” Andrea Cisternino told Clarin on February 27.
Cisternino cares for 450 animals at a shelter in Ukraine located 28 miles outside of Kyiv, the national capital. The facility houses a wide variety of animals including dogs, cats, goats, cows, horses, chickens, and ducks.
Cisternino moved to Ukraine ten years ago with his wife, Vlada Shalutko. Together the couple opened a facility for stray and abandoned dogs. The refuge eventually expanded to include other animals and has nurtured thousands of critters since it opened a decade ago.
“Cisternino reported through his Facebook account a bombing around 5 am on Thursday, February 24, 30 kilometers [18.6 miles] from [his] animal shelter,” Clarin relayed on Sunday.
The Italian citizen said he additionally witnessed “several missile planes … flying over the shelter.”
Cisternino referred to Russian missiles, which struck several parts of Ukraine in the early morning hours of February 24 as Moscow launched an invasion of its western neighbor. The Kremlin’s air and ground offensive caused an estimated 500,000 people to flee Ukraine by February 28, with most of the conflict refugees heading to European Union (E.U.) nations lining Ukraine’s western border.
“Despite the danger and the departure of thousands of citizens, Cisternino declared that he will remain with his animals in the shelter. For them, he has provided food and other fuels that he hopes will allow him to navigate this conflict intact,” Clarin relayed on February 27.
Cisternino told the newspaper his resolve to stay in Ukraine stems from an experience of living through a previous hardship. The Italian said his current animal shelter, dubbed “KJ2,” was the second such refuge he had built near Kyiv since first establishing a facility named “Refugio Italia” in 2012.
“Two years after opening, the structure [Refugio Italia] burned down, killing 71 dogs,” Cisternino revealed.
“No one came to help us, not even the firefighters,” according to the foreigner.
“Far from giving up, he turned rage and pain into willpower to build an even bigger shelter that he named KJ2,” Clarin detailed.
Cisternino achieved this dream, constructing a new facility that today occupies roughly 20,000 square meters and includes an independent veterinary clinic.