Pets in the Trenches: The Emotional Support Animals of Ukraine’s Frontlines

In the scarred landscapes of Ukraine’s eastern front, where artillery fire echoes day and night and soldiers sleep in damp bunkers beneath shattered forests, one might not expect to find warmth. Yet in the dugouts and firebases, along the muddy edges of trenches, a quiet companionship thrives — wagging, purring, and occasionally clucking.

Dogs, cats, and even ducks have become steadfast companions to Ukrainian troops — more than mascots, these animals are a source of calm, connection and emotional resilience in a war that offers little comfort. In a conflict defined by drones and digital targeting systems, these unlikely soldiers serve a different, yet essential, purpose.

A Dog Named Bayraktar

Bayraktar arrived in a trench outside Bakhmut as a skinny stray, her ribs showing and paws cut from broken glass. The unit fed her scraps, gave her a bed of old jackets, and named her — not after the Turkish drone, exactly, but in homage to her alertness.

“She always barked a few seconds before shelling,” said Oleksiy, a 22-year-old medic. “So we started watching her more closely than our radios.”

Bayraktar now wears a handmade vest with her name stitched in Ukrainian blue-and-yellow thread. She sits beside wounded soldiers during evacuations, her presence enough to lower breathing rates and bring a flicker of calm in chaotic moments.

Cats in Cold Places

Cats are the most ubiquitous of trench companions. Nimble, self-sufficient and adept at catching rats in the dugouts, they are also — according to many soldiers — guardians of morale.

“Mine sleeps on my chest under the flak jacket,” said Dmytro, an infantryman in the 59th Brigade. “It’s like he keeps my heart from freezing.”

Some cats were brought from home by conscripted soldiers. Others were adopted along the front, rescued from abandoned villages and train stations. One viral video shows a cat perched on a soldier’s helmet as he trudges through snow. The caption reads: “Commander Pusha on patrol.”

Not Just Comfort — A Role to Play

While many of these animals are loved for companionship, some have developed roles beyond affection:

• Dogs alert to danger, sniff for tripwires, and occasionally help locate wounded.

• Cats reduce trench vermin, improve hygiene, and comfort the sick.

• Chickens and ducks, though rarer, are raised by some units for eggs — and amusement. One artillery crew near Avdiivka raised a duck named Olena who marched in formation and refused to leave her perch on the howitzer barrel.

Healing Trauma in Real Time

For soldiers facing constant psychological strain, the presence of an animal can be the difference between numbness and emotional connection.

“After a drone strike, the first thing I did was look for my dog,” said Serhii, a mortar gunner. “It reminded me that I was still human.”

Studies globally have shown the benefits of emotional support animals in PTSD and combat-related stress environments. In Ukraine, this is playing out in real time — not as a formal therapy programme, but as a grassroots phenomenon.

NGOs have started to recognise the trend. The Ukrainian animal welfare organisation UAnimals now runs a program to rescue, vaccinate and supply food to pets on the front lines. Some volunteer vets even travel to trench zones to administer care.

Loss, Loyalty and Remembering

Not all these stories end happily. Pets, like their human companions, are vulnerable to shelling, displacement and loss.

A dog named Sharik, beloved by a reconnaissance unit in the Zaporizhzhia sector, was killed during a missile strike. His soldiers buried him beside their dugout and fashioned a wooden cross, painted with the words “Faithful till the end.”

“Some men cried more for him than for themselves”, their commander later said.

Such losses speak to the profound emotional bond that forms in war. Amid destruction, these animals remind soldiers of home, of warmth, and of a world beyond uniforms and fire missions.

Not Just Mascots, But Comrades

In the history books, war is told in troop numbers and battle lines. But in the memories of those who fight it, it is told in smaller stories — of muddy paws, gentle purring and a moment of peace shared with a creature who asks for nothing but kindness.

The animals of Ukraine’s trenches are not symbols. They are survivors. They comfort, they protect, and they endure alongside the men and women they live with.

They are, in their quiet way, soldiers of the soul.