(Reuters] Yulia, a pet carrier enthusiast and driver in her car full of pets, drives through eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Region to rescue cats and dogs left behind by their owners.

According to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (a Russian-backed separatist group), residents were forced to flee to Russia because of increased shelling. The evacuation was announced by Donetsk People’s Republic. It is an unofficial region that has been declared a Russian-backed separatist.

Many pets were abandoned by their owners as residents fled.

Yulia of Donetsk has made up to eight trips to Russia’s border with her pet animals. Here, she gives abandoned dogs and cats to Russian volunteers. They then drive the animals to Moscow approximately 900km (560 mi) north.

Irina Marsenko (a Moscow-based pet store owner) has led a group of volunteers to take the Donetsk dogs and cats to Russia.

Yulia stated that she felt the need to assist, even though it meant traveling for hours at checkpoints in her dark green Lada with misbehaving kittens and screaming puppies.

Yulia stroked the tabby cat as Yulia said, “Volunteers care for so many pets right currently.” “Because so many people leave Donetsk every day, we don’t even know where to look for homes in Donetsk.”

Russia recognizes the Donetsk and Luhansk territories that broke away from Ukraine as separate states. However, the rest considers them part Ukraine. Since 2014, separatists from Russia have been fighting Ukrainian forces in these two areas.

The West has placed severe sanctions against Russia to try to get it to pull its troops out of Ukraine. However, Ukrainian forces are resisting Russia’s military interventions.

Marchenko, who is the chief of the rescue operation’s success, was the first to connect with Donetsk residents via social media. He offered them temporary shelter or a new home in Moscow.

According to the Muscovite, 36 years old, she said that when she woke up Feb. 24, “I understood that animals would be ending up on the streets” and would no longer be able bring the animals along.

“We first wanted to rescue the abandoned animals, the ones that aren’t allowed on the streets or wouldn’t make it through the day.”