The Russian invasion of Ukraine hasn’t just torn families apart – countless animals have been affected as well.
Anastasiia Arana owned her dream horse for just six months. Then the war swept through her city. Skadovsk, a port town on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, was caught in the chaos back in 2021.
Families fled for their lives. Anastasiia had to leave her hometown. And her beloved horse, Helvetica, had to stay behind.
“I thought I’d see her again in two weeks… but that never happened,” she recalls in an interview with We Love Animals.
For a year, she received photos and updates.
Helvetica seemed okay, until things turned dire.
The horse club where she was kept became unsafe, and the owners themselves had to leave. By autumn 2023, Helvetica was starving, her condition worsening by the day. Determined, she searched desperately for a way to bring her horse out of the region, occupied by Russian forces.
Borders were closed, even for humans. But Anastasiia found one man who had successfully rescued horses before, and they launched a fundraising campaign.
But hope didn’t come easy. When the rescue attempt began, Russian authorities caught wind. Soldiers and police blocked the horse’s evacuation.
“They had guns and said, ‘This horse will stay here,’” she says. The driver had no choice but to return empty-handed.
It felt impossible.
And yet… in December 2023, a true miracle happened. The Russian administration changed. The horse could leave. Helvetica, exhausted but calm, stepped into the trailer as if she knew freedom was waiting.
“When I received the call that she was okay, I nearly cried. I couldn’t believe it—we actually did it. She’s safe.”
In January 2024, she finally crossed into Poland to reunite with Helvetica. Two years apart melted away in an instant. Tears, laughter, and the sound of hooves meeting the ground, her dream had come true.
“I want to spend every day with her,” she says. “I just want to give her the happy life she deserves. She survived, and so did hope.”
See the reunion here:
In a world of chaos and heartbreak, this story reminds us: miracles still happen, and love knows no borders. ❤️
