Locations‘Stitching new life’
Hanna Olshynska stayed in Kherson throughout its eight-month occupation in 2022, unable to leave while there were still animals that needed her care.
As people fled the city, many were forced to leave their pets behind. Some brought them to Hanna, trusting her to keep them safe. Over time, her home became a sanctuary for dogs and cats with nowhere else to go.
“It was the hardest part,” she recalls. “People were leaving, and the animals stayed with us.”
Hanna lived through those months with her husband, her parents, and her two children, both of whom have disabilities. The pressure was constant, marked by searches, shelling, and fear. Her children witnessed things no child should ever have to see, yet she stayed as long as she could.
Leaving only became possible in December 2022, after a volunteer she knew was killed. By then, the cost of staying had become too high.
Hanna fled with her children and eventually managed to evacuate the rest of her family along with all the animals – 12 dogs and six cats in total. They left with almost no belongings; a week after her parents finally escaped, their family home was destroyed by an attack.
Now living in Mykolaiv Oblast, Hanna is building a life from scratch. Through a reskilling programme supported by UNDP and Denmark, she learned to sew – a skill she had long wanted to master – and turned it into a small business.
What started as a way to cope has become a way to create something deeply meaningful.
She designs clothes for animals, but she also produces something more specialised: evacuation bags and stretchers for injured pets, with the designs being based on her own experience under fire.
“There are stretchers for people,” Hanna says. “These are for animals.”
Her designs are practical and durable, born from the reality of trying to save as many lives as possible, even when it felt nearly impossible. Many of the animals she rescued in Kherson are still with her, while she continues to support others from afar by sending food to those who remained in the city.
Even now, her dogs often sense danger before she does: “When they get nervous, I understand something is coming,” Hanna explains.
Today, Hanna’s biggest dream is simple: to have a home of her own again. But even without one, she continues to rebuild her life, one piece at a time.
“Animals save us,” she says, “And we save them.”
