The Manchester man who’s been rescuing animals from the frontline in Ukraine

A man from Greater Manchester is making a second journey to the war-torn country of Ukraine after deciding to help fleeing refugees and save animals, last year.

Stuart Adamson, from Stockport, watched in horror as Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and many peoples’ lives were turned upside down overnight. Being the hands-on person that he is, he decided he had to help in some way.

Stuart started a fundraiser to get some cash together to take to the frontline and help victims of war. Once he had enough funds, he left his job, packed up his eight-seater van and made the long journey to the Ukraine border, all alone.

He helped with the evacuation of refugees for a month, assisting many families with children. From there, he ventured into Vinnytsia, central Ukraine and later joined a charity called Breaking the Chains, where he rescued animals from the front lines including lions, bears, wolves, farm animals, foxes, dogs, cats, and many more.

After six months in the country the money had run out and Stuart returned to the UK, where he took up work as a bartender in Manchester, ever more determined to get the money together and get back out to Ukraine.

He now plans to travel there on April 7th in his van and has set-up another fundraiser for those who wish to donate. He said: “I was just watching the videos and watching it unfold and thinking, ‘I’ve got to do something, I can’t just sit here’. 

“So, I loaded up my van, dropped some supplies off at Poland and headed to the border.” When asked what it was like when he first got there, Stuart said: “It was…I think surreal is the best way to describe it.

“You can watch as many videos and read as many articles as you like but nothing prepares you for going into a warzone.”

He continued: “I remember 20 minutes in, as I was driving in, I put the radio on and after five minutes of listening to music, the emergency response system came on. There was an air raid siren and Ukrainian warnings.”

These went on for around 45 minutes and when Stuart tried to switch the radio off, he was unable to do so.

“There was tension and nerves, but I just kept thinking, ‘someone’s gotta do this’,” he added. Stuart said while evacuating refugees, it ‘got a little emotional at times’ and they were relieved to be picked up and taken out of danger.

“I just started picking people up from the border and saying, ‘where are you going? I’ll take you’. I was just loading families up at the time and getting them to where they needed to be. It was noticeable that there were just women and children because all the men can’t leave the country at the moment — except for in exceptional circumstances.

“The drive was just really silent. Some were complete strangers just comforting each other in the back of my van.”

Stuart had to break up his trip after falling ill, but was determined to get straight back to it after he recovered. “Eventually I got Covid so I ended up coming back. But about a week later, I went straight back out again with new supplies and went into Ukraine this time,” he said.

“I ended up with a charity called Breaking The Chains and doing animal rescue.”

Animal charity Breaking the Chains International specialises in extracting animals of all types and sizes to safety from dangerous and arduous conditions around the world.

Stuart went on: “So, we went to the front lines and, I mean, we got everything. I’m talking…dogs, cats, a lion extraction from a zoo. We got bears, wolves, hawks, ravens, farm animals — anything you can think of, we got.

“We went to the front lines and got within about 600 metres of the Russian checkpoints. I’m not gonna lie, it got a bit hairy at times with missiles dropping and tanks everywhere.”

Stuart now plans to go back to Ukraine for a second time.

In a time of national crisis, Ukrainian vets are being used to administer First Aid treatments for those on the front lines. Stuart said: “Now I’m going back with a different organisation called Worldwide Vets and the focus here is going to be on veterinary care, in-country, as opposed to animal rescue.

“So, there’s a lot of towns and villages with left behind pets, strays that have not been spayed or neutered. We will be going to the front lines but not as close as we were, to get to all these cut off villages to try and maintain the animal population before it gets out of control and becomes another problem further down the line.

“I’ll also be going out with another organisation called Paws For Peace and we’ll be dropping supplies off to the Korsun region — that’s a little more dangerous. We’re gonna be picking up three dogs from there and getting them out.”

You can donate to help Stuart HERE.