Volya

As I am writing this post, a relatively big and very furry cat is relaxing on my right shoulder. I type without being able to see the keyboard. If you have Instagram and want to see a daily picture of her (or so), here is her account.
A week ago I took Volya with me from the animal rescue which I mentioned before, Domivka, Lviv. I volunteered with them and still do. Please consider making a donation, if you can afford it. These people are amazing and the animals are so well cared for, but funds are never enough, as it is with all charities.

This will be a long post because it is such an important change in our lives, having a cat, and because of her history and of the history of her name. I will also talk about how she behaved in this last week, as she has had a pretty busy life. Please take the time to read the history and check the links I am sharing. The one on her name is long, 30 minutes, while the others are only a couple of minutes maximum.

First of all, I saw her for the first time in February, when I volunteered at Domvika. She was rescued from a city close to the frontline, Orikhiv, of which I talk below. I am only going to say that she had a russian name previously, which is now irrelevant. But what is relevant is that the person who cared for her before she was rescued was a native russian speaker, one of those “liberated” by the russians. I will share a rescue, not of hers, but one that is pretty similar because it is a reflection of what is happening in Ukraine right now.
I will be forever grateful to the heroes who risked their lives to save her. I will be forever grateful to the heroes who risk their lives to save any animal or human, they are among the best that our kind has produced.

I will start with her name, Volya, and its meaning. It can be translated by “freedom”. It is more complex and nuanced than that. Watch the 30 minutes lecture by Rory Finnin: What Freedom Means in Ukrainian, the well known Cambridge professor. The lecture offers a good insight into Ukrainian culture and values.
I mentioned that I am getting a cat, both to volunteers and Ukrainians who are involved in the war effort. Their reaction was, many times, amazing. I was hugged, more than once, when they learned that I was the one who picked Volya’s name. This is how much this word means to them. Another time I told someone her name, as we were talking about pets and I said that I will adopt a cat when I was asked if I have any pets. When that person heard the name, she at once told her colleague, who was as excited about the name. It is obvious why, it shows that I know and respect their moral values.

This picture was taken at Domivka, in their new adoption centre. On the back are pictures of people who adopted pets from them, photographed after they signed the paperwork, just before leaving. I think it is such a wonderful idea. I love that there are so many people that are donating that they can build something as beautiful as this. It made the whole experience of adopting so pleasant and relaxing.

In the car, travelling from the rescue to our temporary home in Lviv. She is used to travelling in the car, as one of my friends pointed out when I showed this picture. I did not realise that at that point. She is familiar with travelling by car.

At home I discovered that my first assumption was right, she was an indoor pet.

I discovered that:
She likes music, so I put Okean Elzy and other Ukrainian singers for her;
She is used to the hair dryer and washing machine, with no reaction to either of them;
She is familiar with the laptop, which for cat translates into relaxing on it,

She knew from the beginning that there can be interesting things on the laptop’s screen. I put some of those special cat movies and she looked a bit.

She sleeps on the bed, despite me buying a bed for her. She never slept in it. She was very used to being held and starts to calm down when she sleeps on me. This means that at various points during the day and the night, she will climb over me and sleep with her head resting on my shoulder.

At this point I should talk about her story. As I mentioned, she was rescued from Orikhiv, above is a still from a clip on various cities destroyed by russia. There were over 13,000 people pre-2022, now about 1,000 remain. From April 2022 the city was under constant shelling because it was so close to the frontlines, see below a map released this week.

The russians did their usual war crimes – targeted a hospital in May 2022, the same month they targeted schools. It’s what they did in many other Ukrainian cities, like Mariupol. By the end of 2022 around 70% of buildings were damaged. By 2023, around 80% of buildings were damaged. By 2024 all buildings were, at least, damaged. Most of the people remaining are living in basements, relying on brave heroes to bring them food and supplies.

Volya spent almost three years under constant attack by the russians, half of her life.

Please watch these clips on Instagram with rescues, which are representative of rescues from places close to the frontlines: Denys’s rescue and second example of rescue by him. Other great examples are on animal.rescue.kharkiv’s page: like this one and this one.

My little survivor is enjoying this box with a scratch pillar on top, which she completely ignores. When I leave she would go to sleep in her box even before I open the door. I will buy one for home in UK.

She loves to play with balls, with only one exception, a ball she doesn’t like at all. She is very keen on the other 3 balls. I will buy spares for those before leaving Ukraine. We take a break from sleeping at around 4-4.30 and we play with the balls. I would prefer taking a break around the 6.30 mark, but she “insists”. I love playing with her.

Volunteering, like a very patriotic cat, she is accompanying me at camo netting. I take her so she can learn to stay relaxed for longer periods, in preparation for her long trip to UK.