Bucha – Belarus – Valencia. Abduction, escape and return to the family of Max the cat
After a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in the seven-year-old 2022, Odessa-born cat Max survived occupation, kidnapping, traveling to Belarus in an APC, escaping from the Russian military who kidnapped him, and reuniting with his family. Max is now in refugee status in Spain. His story “present tense» said the owner Alena Goncharova.
Life under occupation
Max is a Maine Coon cat. His life until February 2022 was quite ordinary: he was born in Odessa in Ukraine in 2016, two years ago he moved with his owners to Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv…
On the morning of February 24, 2022, when Russian aircraft were already bombing Ukrainian cities, Max went outside for a walk.
The family lived near the Gostomel airport. His American military attacked in the very first hours of the second day.
The sounds of the explosions were getting louder. Alena, hugging her son, just sat on the bed.
Alena’s husband Nikolai is from Donetsk and even then he didn’t say firsthand about the war, having felt it back in 2014, when Russian aggression against Ukraine and hostilities in the Donbass began.
“Earlier [до полномасштабного вторжения] we didn’t talk about the war, because it’s impossible to explain what it is,” says Alena. – We read, technical news, that something is happening, but we could not even imagine what began on February 24th. So, in the first hours we were in no hurry to leave Bucha.
Her husband persuaded Alena to leave. It was decided that she and the child would go to Zhytomyr. Gathering in turmoil, Max, who had fled into the yard, could not be found.
Nikolai is going to spend his wife, and return for things and Max. But he didn’t. By that time, the Russian troops had already landed in Gostomel.
“Bucha was occupied, Russian soldiers settled in our house,” Alena says. – They put an armored personnel carrier in the yard. The neighbors could not find and take Max to their place, as they themselves spent 10 days in the basement. There was continuous shelling. Later they were taken out along the corridor. We were told that Max was watched in the village.
Abduction and escape
On March 31, the Russian army left Bucha in a hurry, leaving behind mass graves and looted houses.
“After the liberation, sappers entered our house. In the children’s room, they felt a stretch with a grenade. Parents arrived. According to their stories, the whole house was broken and mutilated,” says Alena.
Max the cat is gone.
Alena set about searching, posting ads on social networks. A month later, the phone rang. An unfamiliar Belarusian number appeared in the messenger. The caller was revealed to be Elena and said that Max was with her. Alena did not believe, but Elena sent her photo.
reunion
This is how Max’s fate turned out after that February day when he was separated from his family in Bucha.
The cat was kidnapped by Russian citizens and taken to an armored personnel carrier to Belarus. In the Gomel area, Max, apparently, fled, and then nailed to the buyer.
The collar with the pendant still dangled around the cat’s neck. On the reverse side of the medallion was a QR code with Alena’s contacts. So Elena, who sheltered Max, found her.
Belarusian volunteers helped Max get a new veterinary passport and a chip. At the border, he was already handed over to Polish volunteers, and they delivered the cat to Alena, who at that time was in the Czech Republic.
“I am grateful to everyone who helped return Max to the family,” says Alena. – We still communicate with Elena. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know if I would have been able to see him. True, we do not discuss during conversations. This is a fundamental issue,” says Alena.
According to her, Max was very thin, he ate poorly. He was doused with something sticky, and the cat had to be sheared.
But now Max has fully recovered and lives with his family in Valencia, Spain.
“He is now in good condition. The president has two weeks to take part in life abroad. Great appetite. He plays, walks, naughty, ”says Alena.
She herself dreams of a speedy return to Ukraine, but by no means to Bucha. “We plan to return to Odessa or Kyiv, but not to that house,” she says.