‘They won’t survive without us’: The grandmothers of Odesa caring for Ukraine’s stray animals

NewsWorldEuropeIn Depth‘They won’t survive without us’: The grandmothers of Odesa caring for Ukraine’s stray animalsIn southern Ukraine, two elderly women look after dozens of animals through nights of heavy shelling and power loss. Bryony Gooch speaks to the brave people caring for the cats among the debrisSunday 16 August 2026 14:43 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b3028709","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/odesa-grandmother-ukraine-stray-animals-b3028709.html","title":"‘They won’t survive without us’: The grandmothers caring for Ukraine’s stray animals"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseRussian strike on Odesa transport facility injures 10 as firefighters battle blazeOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveOnTheGround","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"rece...