As the conflict escalates in eastern Ukraine, thousands of animals have found themselves caught up in the human tragedy unfolding around them. These poignant images of dogs, cats, and livestock in a war zone serve to underline the disruption and chaos unleashed by the violence in the Donbas region, which has already claimed more than 5,000 lives. (WARNING: Contains images some viewers might find upsetting.)
Eastern Ukraine: Animals In The Crossfire
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A dog stands at the site where a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane was shot down near the village of Hrabove in the Donetsk region.
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A cat wearing a ribbon with the colors of the Ukrainian national flag stands near military binoculars at a checkpoint in the town of Avdeevka near Donetsk last August.
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Vladimir Shramko, 48, walks past his neighbor's house, which was damaged by shelling, in the village of Spartak on the outskirts of Donetsk in October 2014.
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Dogs gather near a Ukrainian tank at a position near Donetsk in September 2014.
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A dog sits amid the rubble of damaged buildings in Donetsk in November 2014.
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A Ukrainian serviceman hugs a dog at a checkpoint near the eastern Ukrainian town of Gorlovka in October 2014.
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A cat stands in front of a destroyed building after fighting between pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian forces near Slovyansk in July 2014.
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A masked pro-Russian separatist sits beside a dog as he poses for a picture inside an occupied regional government building in Donetsk in April 2014.
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A local boy holds a cat outside his Donetsk home, which was damaged by shelling.
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Dogs pass by uniformed men, believed to be Russian soldiers, near a Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol, Crimea, in March 2014.
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A cat rests on a bed in a basement used as a shelter from artillery fire in Donetsk late last year.
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A woman carries a dog as smokes rises above buildings shortly after a shelling in Donetsk in August 2014.
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Ukrainian serviceman play with a cat during a short break in the village of Pesky, not far from the embattled airport of Donetsk, in October 2014.
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Cows graze near a tank and servicemen, believed to be Russian, outside a military base in Perevalnoye, near the Crimean city of Simferopol, in March 2014.
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A dog looks at the body of Vladimir Churilov, who was killed by shelling while out on a walk in the Azotny district of Donetsk in December.
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A dog barks in front of a car damaged by recent shelling in the village of Krasnyi Pakhar near Donetsk in November 2014.
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A cat lies on an ammunition box at a pro-Russian separatist position near Donetsk airport late last year.
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A pro-Russian militant pets a dog while guarding a checkpoint in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in June 2014.
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A Ukrainian soldier plays with a dog in the eastern city of Debaltseve in December 2014.
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A Ukrainian serviceman rests with a dog at a military camp near the town of Horlivka in eastern Ukraine in September 2014.
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A Ukrainian serviceman pets a stray dog as convoys of buses leaves Ukraine's frontline town of Debaltseve to take besieged civilians to safety after both sides agreed a brief humanitarian truce.
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A female Ukrainian soldier holds a dog at a checkpoint in the village of Pesky near Donetsk.