As Russian troops approach Kiev a little more each day, the city's zoo, which has a vast basement intended to become a large aquarium, serves as a refuge for around thirty people.
While the Russians are getting closer to Kiev every day, the Ukrainian capital has been emptied of most of its inhabitants . Only those who found safe shelter remained. This is the case of the team at the Kiev zoo, the largest zoo in Ukraine with 200 different species, 4,000 animals. In these times of war , the zoo has become a refuge for men.
It is Kyrylo Trantin, the director of the zoo, who goes around the owner. " Here is the basement of the central building, he describes. In the future it will be our aquarium but at the moment it is the safest place in the zoo. In the evening, everyone goes down here to sleep there. There are women, children... A total of about 30 people sleep here every night."
Animals are also affected by war
In the aisles of the zoo, we meet Ruslan, a trainer, and his three-year-old daughter. Like many employees, Ruslan settled here with his whole family. "We are here because there is shelter, he confides. With us there is none. Here we can hide when necessary and we are in the open air, there is the animals. It's good for the kids. And since we're staying here, we can also take care of the animals. It's a full-time job, 24/7."
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Indeed, there is work for Ruslan and his colleagues. Some animals, for example, cannot stand the sound of sirens and bombardments. This is the case of the zoo elephant. “He is very sensitive to anything out of the ordinary , laments the director. We are therefore obliged to give him painkillers.” The elephant remains in its winter enclosure, isolated from outside noise, confined like most animals here. "The zebras haven't been out for ten days, the context is too stressful for them. During the first bombardments, they started running in all directions. And they can get injured at that time, so we prefer the keep away", explains the director. As for the lions, they hardly ever come out. They even have their own basement in case of an alert.