A cat and dog were flown to safety by a Ukrainian drone to escape advancing Russian troops on the frontline, according to reports.
Astonishing footage purportedly shows the pair being pulled from bags after the daring flight.
Ukrainian fighters are said to have sent the animals on a mercy mission of nearly eight miles.
Supplies had been delivered to troops from the 14th Separate Mechanised Brigade holding the line near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region.
On the return flight, the drone was used to evacuate the two animals from a position threatened by Vladimir Putin’s invading forces.
The mongrel is seen being lifted from a bag after the journey, while a cat emerges moments later.
‘Well, I’ve never flown on a drone before,’ a Ukrainian man says to the cat.
‘You’ll be ours. Ah, she is already purring, she is content. Of course she flew, she flew, she is very happy.
Astonishing footage purportedly shows a dog and cat pulled from bags after being flown to safety by drone from advancing Russian troops on the frontline. Pictured: The animals after their rescue
Ukrainian fighters are said to have sent the animals on a mercy mission of nearly eight miles, according to local reports
‘Well, I’ve never flown on a drone before,’ a Ukrainian man says to the cat
Supplies had been delivered to troops from the 14th Separate Mechanised Brigade holding the line near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region
On the return flight, the drone was used to evacuate the two animals from a position threatened by Vladimir Putin’s invading forces
‘We’ll give you food, some proper food to eat.’
There is no footage of the animals mid-flight, only after they reached safety.
Animal welfare group UAnimals said the pair flew around 12km and are now safe with the soldiers.
It added: ‘Risky? Yes, but leaving them there was even more dangerous, and there was no other way to get them out.
‘The cat and dog flew eight miles (12 kilometres) – they are safe and now with the soldiers.
‘We thank the defenders for saving the most vulnerable.’
The cat had been cared for by a soldier, now in hospital with war wounds.
His comrades decided to rescue his pet – and they could not leave the dog behind either.
This is not the only time animals have been rescued from Ukraine during the war.
In 2022, twenty French bulldogs were pictured crammed in a car while their Ukrainian owner fled Russian bombs in her home outside of Kyiv – and even went back to the warzone to rescue 30 more ‘defenceless animals’.
Olena Lukash, 57, from Kyiv, said she ‘didn’t believe a war could start’ in her home country until Russian shells began to land near her house since the invasion on Ukraine began on February 24.
However, she soon realised she would have to save her ‘four-legged children’ from the terrifying threat as she decided to flee her home and head for Poland.
Photos show 20 of the dogs squeezed into the kennel owner’s Hyundai Tucson for the four-day drive, with the pooches blissfully unaware of the terror they were escaping.
Remarkably, after Olena and her husband Alexander left the dogs in Poland they then returned to their Russian-occupied town to rescue 30 more and then fled to Vinnitsa, 173 miles away from Kyiv.