A man fleeing the war in Ukraine with his kitten was found alive in the icy mountains of Romania: “The peach kept my heart warm”

A Ukrainian who embarked on a dangerous journey fleeing his war-torn country In Romania he was rescued from a deep mountain ravine in sub-zero temperatures with a strange companion: his months-old kitten named Peach.

More than a dozen rescuers worked in a harsh snowstorm to save Vladislav Duda, 28, who was found “soaked and frozen” and severely hypothermic in a 400-meter-deep ravine in the northern Maramures region last week. past, according to the region’s mountain rescue service. Duda had fled Ukraine to avoid being drafted into his country’s armed forces fighting Russia.

“The cat was hot and I was warming him up… so it saved his life,” Dan Benga, director of the Maramures mountain rescue service, told The Associated Press. “The only thing we saw he cares about is the cat. He doesn’t care about himself.”

When the rescue team located and found the Ukrainian, they unzipped his jacket and discovered Peach curled up inside. Benga remembers asking Duda if he was okay, to which he replied: “I’m happy because my cat is alive. God gave me the opportunity to have a new life. The happiest moment is because the cat is here with me,” Benga remembered what Doubt said.

The auburn kitten, a cat called “Peach” in Ukrainian, was experiencing the effects of malnutrition after running out of food four days earlier and melting snow helped keep him alive.

“It’s like a dream. After everything I’ve been through, I just hoped they would find me and survive,” Duda, who worked as a journalist in Ukraine, told the AP. “Peach kept my heart warm and kept my faith alive.”

A recovery helicopter was initially launched but was canceled due to hazardous weather hampering visibility. Ground rescuers then embarked on a grueling mission through deep snow and temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) until they reached the couple.

During the complex ascent of the ravine that lasted more than five hours, the Ukrainian did not let go of his kitten. He kept Peach pressed against his chest “from the bottom up… until we got him to the ambulance,” Benga said. “He just said, ‘Please take care of the cat.'”

On the verge of frostbite, Duda is now receiving anti-inflammatory medication and blood circulation treatment, said Izabella Kiskasza, who runs a community center for Ukrainian refugees in Maramures and is helping the duo. Peach received veterinary treatment in Baia Mare on Monday and is expected to make a full recovery.

Duda left his home in Ukraine’s war-torn Kharkiv region more than a week before becoming stranded with his feline companion in the arching Carpathian mountain range, which straddles northern Romania and southwestern Romania. Ukraine.

While Peach is the first feline rescued from the mountainous region of Romania, Duda is just one of many Ukrainian men who have risked their lives traversing the harsh conditions of the mountains to avoid being drafted into their country’s devastating war with Russia.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, more than 160 Ukrainian men have been rescued from the Romanian Maramures region and the numbers have doubled every year since, Benga said. Another 16 have been found dead.

Two other Ukrainian men of military age were rescued by helicopter the same day as Duda, he said.

“There are a lot of people who come, but they don’t have any medical problems… and they don’t ask for help,” Benga said. “People who ask for help are in the last hours of their lives.”

Ukraine has taken steps to expand its pool of men eligible for conscription, but the efforts have only scratched the surface in the face of a much larger Russian army. In April, Ukraine’s parliament passed a law lowering the age of men for military conscription from 27 to 25.

Desertion It is also depriving the Ukrainian military of desperately needed manpower at a crucial time in its war with Russia. The United States, which has also urged Ukraine to recruit more troops and allow the recruitment of young people as young as 18, announced on Saturday a new $988 million military assistance package for Ukraine in its war with Russia, as Washington rushes to provide aid to kyiv. before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

“What I remember is the fear of the unknown and the fear of not making it through the night alive,” Duda recalled Monday. “My Peach kept me alive. By escaping we were afraid of everyone, of not being sent back to fight in a war that is not ours.”

According to the United NationsThere are almost 4 million internally displaced people in Ukraine and, as of November 2024, 6.8 million refugees from Ukraine have been registered worldwide.

According to the animal welfare group four legsSince the start of the war, thousands of dogs and cats have been lost or abandoned. In 2022, a German organization set up a shelter on the border between Ukraine and Poland to help rescue stranded pets.