Ukrainian man fleeing war rescued with his kitten on journey through Romania
When a mountain rescue team found Vladislav Duda, they unzipped his jacket and discovered Peach snuggled up inside.
A Ukrainian man who embarked on a perilous journey fleeing his war-torn country into Romania was rescued from a deep mountain ravine in sub-zero temperatures with an unlikely companion, his kitten, Peach.
More than a dozen rescuers worked in a harsh blizzard to save Vladislav Duda, 28, who was found “soaked and frozen” and severely hypothermic in a 400-metre deep ravine in the northern Maramures region last week, according to the region’s mountain rescue service.
Mr Duda had fled Ukraine to avoid being drafted into his country’s armed forces fighting Russia.
“The cat was warm and was warming him, so he saved his life,” Dan Benga, the director of the Maramures mountain rescue service, said.
“The only thing we saw he is caring about is the cat. He doesn’t care about himself.”
When the rescue team located and found him, they unzipped his jacket and discovered Peach snuggled up inside.
Mr Benga recalls asking Mr Duda if he was OK, to which he replied: “I’m happy because my cat is alive. I got a chance from God for a new life. The happiest moment is because the cat is here with me.”
The kitten, a tomcat named Peach in Ukrainian, was experiencing the effects of malnutrition after they ran out of food four days earlier and melted snow helped to keep him alive.
“It’s like a dream, after all I have been through, I only hoped to be found and to survive,” Mr Duda, who worked as a journalist in Ukraine, said. “Peach kept my heart warm and he kept my faith alive.”
A helicopter retrieval was initially launched but was aborted because of dangerous weather that hampered visibility.
Ground rescuers then embarked on a gruelling mission through deep snow and temperatures as low as minus 10C until they reached Mr Duda.
During the complex ascent out of the ravine which took more than five hours, the Ukrainian would not let go of his kitten. He kept Peach clutched to his chest “from the bottom to the top … until we put him in the ambulance”, Mr Benga said. “He said only ‘Please take care of the cat.’”
Close to getting frostbite, Mr Duda is now receiving anti-inflammatory medication and blood circulation treatment, said Izabella Kiskasza, who runs a community centre for Ukrainian refugees in Maramures. Peach received veterinary treatment in Baia Mare on Monday and is expected to fully recover.
Duda left his home in Ukraine’s war-ravaged Kharkiv region more than a week before getting stranded with his feline companion in the arching Carpathian Mountain range, which straddles northern Romania and southwest Ukraine.
