Rest in peace. Medic Yana “Yara” Rykhlitska killed in action near Bakhmut. Image: Twitter. NEWS AND OPINION: The fine selfie picture on Twitter shows Yana 'Yara' Rykhlitska with a cat and dog.  We don't know the back story to life though. It is a far presumption to say she loved animals. The expression on her face is warm. She looks relaxed and at home with the companion animals.   Rest in peace. Medic Yana “Yara” Rykhlitska killed in action near Bakhmut. pic.twitter.com/9T3bO77OEV — Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 5, 2023 She was 29-years-of-age and described as the 'Angel of the Troops'. She volunteered and became a paramedic and was killed near Bakhmut, the city which has become a significant battleground for the Russians in their so-called big push on the one-year anniversary of the conflict. She worked at a stabilisation center at Bakhmut and before the war she worked for an insurance company. . This is where the wounded are taken and treated b...

Here is a cool picture tweeted by the Defense of Ukraine Twitter account. I always love to see the Ukrainian soldiers receiving some love from a domestic cat who's probably a stray having lost their owner to death or disappearance. Here, with soldiers, they can find some human caregiving and contact. We don't know for how long. This war - Putin's invasion of a sovereign territory - is appalling. The Russian war crimes are horrendous. I hope they pay the price. A war tribunal is being set up as I understand it both inside Ukraine and in Northern Europe (believed The Netherlands). Ukraine soldier with tabby cat. Image: Twitter. And here is a funny response also from Twitter: Feline reinforcements arrive to defend Ukraine. Image: Twitter. I should not omit dogs. They also provide a lot of comfort to the Ukraine military and vice versa. They have a home for a while. But life is very fragile. These human-to-cat relationships are liable to be shattered at any minute.

  There is a big question mark over whether Putin is mad, super-intelligent or somewhere in between. Anyway, he has sent the troops into Ukraine to take over the country; to annex the country to Russia because he thinks that Ukraine should be part of Russia.  I believe that he has had aspirations to include Ukraine as part of Russia for a very long time. That is why I believe all the diplomacy and negotiations which have taken place over the past few months have been a complete waste of time. His mind was set and there was no turning back. In fact, it was impossible for Putin to turn back once he was on that path. To turn back would be losing face. It would be a sign of defeat before he had even started.  There has been a lot of discussion in The Times newspaper about whether he is genuinely slightly mad at least. He has been isolated for quite a long time partly because of Covid. In addition, he has a small group of advisers around him some of them going back to his KGB ...

I guess the Syrian war is over but the devestation is immense not only for people but for companion animals as well and the infastructure. I have always felt that we need to write more about the cats and dogs (and other animals) in these war zones.  The news media always focuses on humans, quite naturally, but behind that front there are tens of thousands of companion animals and stray cats and dogs who are suffering tremendously. We need to mention them. We need to recognise their existence. This sanctuary does just that.  And apparently there are 1000 cats at it. It's a remarkable effort. They need to be recognised and praised which is the purpose of this short article. The video explains it all and therefore I won't go over it in words. But let's remember the animals of war. They are utterly forgotten. If they are not killed outright they starve to death but in Syria there are some people who think about them and care for them. Idlib sanctuary offers cats refuge from w...