Andrea Cisternino, owner of an animal shelter near Kiev, said he would rather die than abandon more than 400 animals, including dogs, goats, cows and horses.
Although Russian helicopters have flown over his shelter in recent days, Cisternino, who is of Italian descent, collects food for his animals and keeps them.
Of course I will stay here with my animals. I won’t leave them behind under any circumstances. I would rather die than do that, Cisternino said.
Andrea has stayed in Ukraine to protect stray dogs and other animals. Even in war, he does not give up his mission. What a wonderful creature,” wrote one Twitter user.
He said he would rather die than leave them. Please include him and his animals in our prayers,” is also one of the comments.
Andrea worked as a fashion photographer for more than 20 years and moved to Ukraine in 2010. He opened a photo studio in Kiev and published an album dedicated to abandoned animals.
The Italian couple was touched by this move and so they bought him a plot of land on which he built an animal shelter.
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