29 September 2026

In the Odesa region, the "Loving Hearts" animal shelter burned down during an attack: 13 animals died

(PHOTO: Intent)

On the night of September 28, the "Loving Hearts" animal shelter burned down as a result of a Russian attack on the Odesa region. Ten cats and three dogs were killed. During the attack, the shelter’s director, Olga Shilimina, tried to put out the fire and save the animals.

She told this to an Intenta correspondent.

According to her, during the first explosion, she was on the shelter’s grounds feeding the animals. The blast wave threw her from the gate deeper into the yard.

After that, Shilimina grabbed a bottle of water and a fire extinguisher and ran to the building where the animals were kept.

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Olga Shilimina. PHOTO: Intent

During the next blast, she managed to rescue five cats and one dog. The other animals huddled in a corner of the building out of fear, but it was already impossible to reach them because of the fire.

The shelter director said that before the rescue workers arrived, she tried to contain the fire herself. She carried buckets of water and tried to prevent the enclosures from catching fire.

According to Shilimina, four strikes occurred near the shelter in about 70 minutes. After the last one, the fire had spread so much across the area that it became nearly impossible to stay there.

“The State Emergency Service was putting out the fire, and I was trying to cut off the flames from the area where the animals were,” said the shelter director.

Ten cats and three dogs died in the fire. According to Shilimina, the dogs hid in plastic doghouses out of fear, and the doghouses burned completely.

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PHOTO: Intent

The fire also destroyed the room where food and other supplies for the animals were stored.

 

Андрій Колісніченко

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