A heartbroken dog was found curled up amid the rubble of its home in Ukraine this morning, after its owners were killed in a merciless Russian missile blitz.
The images have been said to speak to the heartache felt by many across the country today, with the dog’s owners among at least nine people killed in airstrikes by Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Photographs show the little dog, called Elsa, curled up and whimpering on dust-covered bedding in the ruins of her family’s home, which was completely destroyed in the pre-dawn ‘revenge’ strikes.
Three men and two women were killed in the Lviv region after a missile struck a residential area – the first deaths in the far-western city in many months as a result of Russia‘s ongoing invasion of the Ukraine.
It was there, in a village in the Zolochevsky district, that the devastated pooch was discovered by locals, appearing to mourn the loss of its people.
Photographs show the little dog, called Elsa, lying on dust-covered bedding in the ruins of the family’s home, which was completely destroyed in the pre-dawn ‘revenge’ strikes.
A poignant photograph from the scene shows a young girl leaning down to scoop up the frightened animal to take it so safety
Photos also showed Elsa, who appears to be a Jack Russell, curled up in a ball on what looks like the duvet and bed sheets of her owners.
The little dog was nestled on top of a large pile of rubble, with the building behind it totally blown apart by the Russian missile.
Debris, including bricks and rubble, surround the bedding it’s lying on. With its head and ears drooped and tail tucked underneath itself, the pup is clearly distraught.
A second poignant photograph from the scene shows a young girl leaning down to scoop up the frightened animal to take it so safety.
During the touching moment, she is seen carefully wrapping a cloth around the dog, which reports say had injured its paw.
A heart-wrenching video then shows Elsa limping around the demolished home, desperately sniffing the rubble, one presumes, for any sign of its owners.
Bystanders who discover the pooch try their best to comfort it, stroking it and allowing it to search the area.
The images demonstrate the utter devastation to the house, with hardly anything left of the deceased family’s home.
Pictured: Locals scour through the rubble of a destroyed house at the scene of the missile strike in Lviv on Thursday
Twisted metal and broken wooden beams show that the structure of the building gave way in the blast, causing much of it to collapse.
One of the walls of the building has totally caved, and looking through the building, it is clear that others are by no means stable. In fact, it no longer resembles a building at all – but rather an abandoned building site.
The fate of the small pooch was not immediately clear, although the clip showing a number of people gathered around her and the outpouring of sadness for her among Ukrainians suggest she will be taken care of.
Many took to Twitter to share the photograph of the dog curled up in the rubble, pointing to the death of its family as one of many examples of Russian atrocities carried out in Ukraine since Putin launched his invasion in February 2022.
As people slept last night, Russia launched 81 missiles against targets across Ukraine, striking 10 of the country’s 27 regions.
While the missiles mainly targeted energy infrastructure, civilian sites like the pet’s home were also hit.
Police and local residents carry an unidentified body following a Russian strike in the village of Velyka Vilshanytsia, some 30 miles from Lviv, on March 9
Three men and two women were killed in the Lviv region after a missile struck a residential area – the first death in the far-western city in many months as a result of Russia’s on-going invasion of the Ukraine
Moscow has said that the strikes were in response to a border incursion earlier this month, referring to claims that Ukrainian nationalists crossed into the southern Bryansk region and killed two civilians, which Kyiv dismissed as a provocation by the Kremlin.
Ukraine said it downed nearly half of the missiles launched by Russia over at least 10 regions, with fighting raging in eastern Bakhmut.
The dog’s owners were among the first civilians killed there in a long time. They were among five people killed after a missile struck a residential area, Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said.
Three buildings were destroyed by fire after the strike and rescue workers were combing through rubble looking for more possible victims.
Footage from the area, some 440 miles from any military battlefield in the east of Ukraine, showed a flattened house and badly damaged buildings nearby.
‘At this moment, it is known about four dead. These are four adults. Two men and two women,’ Kozytski wrote on Telegram messenger, saying a missile had hit their home in the Zolochiv district west of the city of Lviv. A fifth death was later confirmed.
The strikes also killed three people in Kharkiv, and left Ukraine’s second largest city – found in the northeast – without power, water or heating.
A ninth man, who was 34, was killed in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk, local authorities said.
‘The enemy fired 81 missiles in an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians again, returning to their miserable tactics,’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
