When an abandoned horse farm in Avdiyivka was targeted by Russian missiles, members of the Ukrainian military and a handful of volunteers risked their lives to save the animals.
Ukrainian Soldiers Rescue Abandoned Horses From Russian Artillery In Avdiyivka
- By RFE/RL
![Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers try to load horses into a truck to evacuate them from an abandoned horse farm in war-torn Avdiyivka on April 25.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-4f76-08db465bea86_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
1
Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers try to load horses into a truck to evacuate them from an abandoned horse farm in war-torn Avdiyivka on April 25.
![The semi-surrounded city of Avdiyivka, which had a prewar population of 31,000, has been repeatedly targeted by deadly missile strikes as Russian forces attempt to seize the city.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-8966-08db465b98c7_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
2
The semi-surrounded city of Avdiyivka, which had a prewar population of 31,000, has been repeatedly targeted by deadly missile strikes as Russian forces attempt to seize the city.
![Ukrainian soldiers decided to move the abandoned animals out of harm's way.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-0706-08db465b98c7_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
3
Ukrainian soldiers decided to move the abandoned animals out of harm's way.
![A Ukrainian soldier patiently readies horses for their evacuation. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-4141-08db465bea86_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
4
A Ukrainian soldier patiently readies horses for their evacuation.
![Other horses pass by a crater left by a missile. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-af65-08db465c896c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
5
Other horses pass by a crater left by a missile.
![A moment of play for two horses during the evacuation.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-888b-08db465bea86_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
6
A moment of play for two horses during the evacuation.
![Not all of the horses were amenable to being moved.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-5cba-08db465b98c7_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
7
Not all of the horses were amenable to being moved.
![A Ukrainian soldier calms down a horse that will be taken to a safer location. Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily update on April 27 that heavy fighting continues on the Bakhmut-Adviyivka-Maryinka front, with the fiercest battles in Bakhmut and Maryinka.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-c4a4-08db465b98ce_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
8
A Ukrainian soldier calms down a horse that will be taken to a safer location.
Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily update on April 27 that heavy fighting continues on the Bakhmut-Adviyivka-Maryinka front, with the fiercest battles in Bakhmut and Maryinka.
Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily update on April 27 that heavy fighting continues on the Bakhmut-Adviyivka-Maryinka front, with the fiercest battles in Bakhmut and Maryinka.