As the conflict escalates in eastern Ukraine, hundreds of animals have actually found themselves caught up in the human disaster unfolding around them.
These poignant pictures of dogs, cats, and livestock in a battle zone serve to highlight the disruption and chaos released by the violence in the Donbas region, which has actually currently claimed greater than 5,000 lives. (CAUTION: Contains photos some viewers may find upsetting.).
A dog stands at the site where a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane was shot down near the town of Hrabove in the Donetsk area.
2. A cat wearing a ribbon with the colors of the Ukrainian national flag stands near military binoculars at a checkpoint in the town of Avdeevka near Donetsk last August.
3. Vladimir Shramko, 48, walks past his neighbor’s house, which was harmed by shelling, in the town of Spartak on the outskirts of Donetsk in October 2014.
4. Dogs gather near a Ukrainian tank at a placement near Donetsk in September 2014.
5. A dog sits in the middle of the rubble of damaged buildings in Donetsk in November 2014.
6. A Ukrainian serviceman hugs a dog at a checkpoint near the eastern Ukrainian community of Gorlovka in October 2014.
7. A cat stands in front of a ruined building after fighting between pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian forces near Slovyansk in July 2014.
8. A masked pro-Russian separatist rests next to a dog as he poses for a photo inside a busy local government building in Donetsk in April 2014.
9. A regional boy holds a cat outside his Donetsk house, which was damaged by shelling.
10. Dogs pass by uniformed guys, believed to be Russian soldiers, near a Ukrainian military base in the town of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol, Crimea, in March 2014.
11. A cat hinges on a bed in a cellar used as a shelter from artillery fire in Donetsk late last year.
12. A lady carries a dog as smokes rises above structures quickly after a shelling in Donetsk in August 2014.
13. Ukrainian serviceman play with a cat during a short break in the village of Pesky, not far from the embattled airport of Donetsk, in October 2014.
14. Cows graze near a tank and also servicemen, thought to be Russian, outside a military base in Perevalnoye, near the Crimean city of Simferopol, in March 2014.
15. A dog looks at the body of Vladimir Churilov, that was killed by shelling while out on a walk in the Azotny district of Donetsk in December.
16. A dog barks before a car harmed by current shelling in the village of Krasnyi Pakhar near Donetsk in November 2014.
17. A cat lies on an ammo box at a pro-Russian separatist placement near Donetsk airport late last year.
18. A pro-Russian militant pets a dog while guarding a checkpoint in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in June 2014.
19. A Ukrainian soldier plays with a dog in the eastern city of Debaltseve in December 2014.
20. A Ukrainian serviceman rests with a dog at a military camp near the community of Horlivka in eastern Ukraine in September 2014.
21. A Ukrainian serviceman animals a roaming dog as convoys of buses leaves Ukraine’s frontline town of Debaltseve to take besieged private citizens to safety after both sides concurred a brief humanitarian truce.
22. A female Ukrainian soldier holds a dog at a checkpoint in the village of Pesky near Donetsk.
