Photos: Ukrainians fleeing war ‘can’t leave’ pets behind

Saturday, Mar 26, 2022 9:27 PM Updated Saturday, Mar. 26, 2022 9:35 PM

A woman holds a dog while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge as people flee the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

A refugee who fled the Russian invasion from neighboring Ukraine comforts her dog as they sit in a ballroom converted into a makeshift refugee shelter at a 4-star hotel & spa, in Suceava, Romania, Friday, March 4, 2022.(AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andreea Alexandru

A Ukrainian girl and her cat wait at the platform inside Lviv railway station, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022, in Lviv, west Ukraine. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Bernat Armangue

A refugee who fled the Russian invasion from neighboring Ukraine comforts his dog as they sit in a ballroom converted into a makeshift refugee shelter at a 4-star hotel & spa, in Suceava, Romania, Friday, March 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andreea Alexandru

Julia Lazarets plays with her cat Gabriel, after fleeing Ukraine and arriving at the train station in Przemysl, Poland, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Daniel Cole

A dog named Josephine licks a Ukrainian woman reunited with her sister after crossing the border from Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andreea Alexandru

Katya holds her two dogs after fleeing from Ukraine, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Visar Kryeziu

A refugee fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine wipes away tears after seeing a relative at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Monday, March 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andreea Alexandru

A woman from neighboring Ukraine, sits with her dog at a train station that was turned into an accommodation center in Przemysl, Poland, on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Petr David Josek

A woman who was evacuated from Irpin cries kissing a cat wrapped in a blanket at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

Antonina, 84 years-old, sits in a wheelchair after being evacuated along with her twelve dogs from Irpin, at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

A refugee holding her dog sits by the side of the road approaching the border with Poland in Shehyni, Ukraine, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Daniel Cole

Ukrainian servicemen help a woman carrying a small dog across the Irpin River on an improvised path while assisting people fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

A puppy peers his head from a pet carrier after his owner fled the conflict from neighboring Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andreea Alexandru

A Ukrainian girl pets her cat in her coat inside Lviv railway station, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Lviv, west Ukraine. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Bernat Armangue

A couple talks after people rushed to board a Lviv-bound train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

A woman holds a dog while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge as people flee the town of Irpin, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

A refugee holding a small dog gives a sip of tea to a toddler after fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine, as they sit in a bus at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Friday, March 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Andreea Alexandru

A girl comforts a cat before the departure of a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda

Mounds of abandoned clothes and other personal items lie strewn along corridors leading out of Ukraine. The farther people carry their things, the harder it is, so they leave them behind, said Ludmila Sokol, a gym teacher fleeing Zaporizhzhia in the south.

But their pets, they keep alongside them.

Everywhere amid the exodus of more than 2.5 million refugees fleeing Russia's invasion are the pets people could not leave behind: birds, rabbits, hamsters, cats and dogs.

People fleeing the outskirts of Kyiv crowded together under a destroyed bridge, carrying little luggage and abandoning their vehicles on the road. But their pets remained with them.

Hundreds of thousands are displaced inside Ukraine as well, after fleeing assaults on their hometowns. An 84-year-old woman who gave only her first name, Antonina, sat in a wheelchair at a triage point in Kyiv, holding a miniature poodle and clutching the leashes of her 11 other little dogs after being evacuated from the town of Irpin.

said she felt an obligation to keep not only her family but her pets safe.

As the missiles and explosives rained down, Victoria Trofimenko of Kyiv thought about her duty to protect her 18-year-old daughter, 69-year-old mother — and her dog, Akira, and cat, Galileo.

She bought train tickets to head west, ending up in Prague.

"I can't leave dogs or cats. I have to take responsibility," she said.