23/05/2026
They drove through drone strikes and missile fire. They covered 13,000 kilometers. They saved 30 lives.
A four-person team from the British animal rescue charity Nowzad has completed a high-stakes evacuation of 30 cats and dogs from Kramatorsk, the eastern Ukrainian city now within striking distance of advancing Russian forces. The operation, named Operation Kramatorsk, was led by Pen Farthing, the 56-year-old former Royal Marine who famously evacuated 173 animals from Kabul during the 2021 fall of Afghanistan.
According to Euromaidan Press, the team moved the animals from Kramatorsk to Smila in central Ukraine's Cherkasy Oblast, before transporting them onward to the UK. Russian troops are estimated to be between 7 and 15 kilometers from the city. The capture of Kramatorsk and neighboring Sloviansk would hand Moscow most of Donetsk Oblast.
The rescue was coordinated with Ksenia, a local rescue operator, and the Drooh Animal Shelter, which Nowzad helped rebuild in 2023 after missile strikes destroyed its fencing. According to Nowzad, any animals that cannot be evacuated face the threat of being shot on-site by invading forces.
Since its founding in 2007, Nowzad has helped relocate more than 1,200 companion animals from war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, and Libya. The charity has appealed for 50,000 pounds to keep the work going. Farthing has vowed to return to Kramatorsk in June.
Some rescues happen at sanctuaries. Others happen at the edge of artillery range.
