“I know I might not make it back from one of these missions. I get that. But I’ll keep going as long as it takes. No matter what."
Kharkiv region. Another cold winter day. At a checkpoint, a blue car comes to a stop—its body covered in stickers of tiny cat paws and playful feline faces. Behind the wheel sits a woman, her car packed with nearly twenty pet carriers. She is on her way to another frontline village to rescue sixteen cats and two dogs.
Her name is Petya, a native of Bulgaria who studied and lived in Germany. She first worked in human rights advocacy before dedicating herself to the protection of animals. When the full-scale war began, she made a decision—to move to Ukraine and save those who couldn’t save themselves.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she has ventured into the most dangerous zones, where war has left thousands of animals homeless—Selidove, Bakhmut, Kurakhove, Pokrovsk. For nearly three years, Petya has evacuated over 2,000 animals from frontline towns and villages across Ukraine.
Petya's primary focus has become rescuing cats. Through her organization, Catspace, she launched the construction of a shelter in the Kyiv region, designed to house 200–300 cats. This shelter is envisioned as a unique space for the rehabilitation of animals that have endured severe stress or show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
She lives in the Kyiv region with twelve cats—eight permanent residents and a few temporary ones rescued during evacuations. "It’s not always possible to find a home for every animal right away, so the number of residents in my house is constantly changing,".
The project was made possible thanks to the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
