A Very Special Episode - November 11th 2023

November 11th 2023

Yuriy celebrates his 43rd birthday today and he talks of the compassionate interaction between Ukrainian soldiers and animals on the front lines. These animals, from kittens to lizards, offer emotional support to the soldiers, and Yuriy expressed profound gratitude to listeners for funding a critical operation for one of his cats.

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TRANSCRIPT: (Podbean app users can enjoy closed captions)

It's November 11 

And today will be a special episode because it's my birthday. I'm 43 years now, and in honor of this, I'll tell you about kittens, puppies, and our little creatures. You've probably seen many photos and videos of Ukrainian soldiers feeding and playing with animals, teaching them tricks. There are so many of these photos and videos that you might think there is a whole zoo in every unit, and you know what? That's exactly how it is - in units on the front lines or near the front, there always a lot of animals and often they're more comfortable than humans. 

Once I attended a briefing in the bunker, led by a tough combat officer. A real warrior who could command his subordinates with just a blink and there he was conducting the briefing, standing up because he did not dare to disturb the cat sleeping in his chair. So he stood next to her, given orders to the soldiers, and the soldiers took it completely normally because. This cat was the pet of an entire unit when she had kittens, soldiers and officers even took turns to ensure that nothing but what happen to the little ones and their mom. 

And in another unit, after a successful offensive, the commander ordered to move to new recaptured positions, not only his soldiers, but also those dogs and cats that were close to them. And we are talking about dozens of animals. The fact is that very often only with soldiers can save these animals the war left them without homes, which were either destroyed or abandoned. Their owners have died, run away or simply unable to care for the animals due to lack of money or poor health. 

In the army, there's always food, always shelter and military doctors who save not only humans, but also animals. And military personnel are always happy to have these animals around. It's easy to explain. Soldiers are disconnected from home, from loved ones, from their families. People lack warmth, the ability to care for someone. Loneliness, despite being surrounded by people, becomes a constant companion for soldiers and a little creature, a dog, a cat, a parrot, or even a lizard is someone looking for warmth, protection, and care. That's how people and animals live side by side in an emotional symbiosis helping each other in this terrible war.

I constantly see these animals often living where I live in rooms or bunkers. I treat them very well, but I don't form friendly relationships. It's funny, but I am afraid of betraying my cats. I want to remain truly emotionally attached only to them. I always make sure that everything is fine at home for them when I'm not there. Every time I send money home supported by your contributions, I remind my relatives to buy something tasty for my cats. Actually, they already know what to buy, but I still remind them. It gives me the feeling that I'm taking care of cats. 

And you've made a wonderful gift for my today's birthday. You've covered the cost of a small but very important medical operation for my younger cat. They found a small but unpleasant tumor in his nose. Thanks to you, this nasty thing has been removed, so thank you, you've made my second birthday during this war truly wonderful.