Volunteers of the 'Marusya and Friends' corgi group introduced their furry staff to the wards of the 'Vozrozhdeniye' (Revival) Republican Centre for Social Rehabilitation of Disabled Children in the city of Stakhanov in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).
Footage filmed in the Moscow region on Wednesday shows volunteers getting ready for the journey with their paw colleagues as well as loading boxes with humanitarian aid into the vehicles. In the video taken on Thursday children are playing with the volunteer group's celebrities - corgis named Marusya, Bilbo and Bublik at the Gorky Culture Hall.
The founder of Marusya and Friends, Leonid Kiselev, claimed that communication with dogs has 'a very positive result' for children with disabilities.
"People from the Lugansk People's Republic approached us, there are several centres there. The parents found out, the children found out [about 'Marusya and Friends' corgi group]. They wrote a letter to the governor of the Moscow region [Andrei Vorobyov], to the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] asking [us] to come. Naturally, we responded immediately," he said.
According to the rehabilitation centre's head Anna Soldatenko, communication with animals charges the children with positive emotions and 'restores' their strength.
"I have dreamed of a dog since childhood. A dog is my best friend in life," shared a teenager with disabilities Vadim Kamaliev, who became the happy owner of a six-month-old corgi puppy.
Corgi group volunteer Elena Alekseenko explained that the puppy has a 'very symbolic name' - Mir (Peace).
"We are very much rooting for the people who live [in the LPR]. They are our family. Now they live in our big, great family, country. We want people to feel that they are not alone, and our people support them," she stressed.
'Marusya and Friends' corgi group was established in 2020. The dogs are trained to find drugs, explosives and accident victims, but also participate in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the DPR and LPR, claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'Dog is my best friend in life' - Volunteer group uses corgi-based method to rehabilitate children with disabilities in LPR
Volunteers of the 'Marusya and Friends' corgi group introduced their furry staff to the wards of the 'Vozrozhdeniye' (Revival) Republican Centre for Social Rehabilitation of Disabled Children in the city of Stakhanov in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).
Footage filmed in the Moscow region on Wednesday shows volunteers getting ready for the journey with their paw colleagues as well as loading boxes with humanitarian aid into the vehicles. In the video taken on Thursday children are playing with the volunteer group's celebrities - corgis named Marusya, Bilbo and Bublik at the Gorky Culture Hall.
The founder of Marusya and Friends, Leonid Kiselev, claimed that communication with dogs has 'a very positive result' for children with disabilities.
"People from the Lugansk People's Republic approached us, there are several centres there. The parents found out, the children found out [about 'Marusya and Friends' corgi group]. They wrote a letter to the governor of the Moscow region [Andrei Vorobyov], to the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] asking [us] to come. Naturally, we responded immediately," he said.
According to the rehabilitation centre's head Anna Soldatenko, communication with animals charges the children with positive emotions and 'restores' their strength.
"I have dreamed of a dog since childhood. A dog is my best friend in life," shared a teenager with disabilities Vadim Kamaliev, who became the happy owner of a six-month-old corgi puppy.
Corgi group volunteer Elena Alekseenko explained that the puppy has a 'very symbolic name' - Mir (Peace).
"We are very much rooting for the people who live [in the LPR]. They are our family. Now they live in our big, great family, country. We want people to feel that they are not alone, and our people support them," she stressed.
'Marusya and Friends' corgi group was established in 2020. The dogs are trained to find drugs, explosives and accident victims, but also participate in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the DPR and LPR, claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Volunteers of the 'Marusya and Friends' corgi group introduced their furry staff to the wards of the 'Vozrozhdeniye' (Revival) Republican Centre for Social Rehabilitation of Disabled Children in the city of Stakhanov in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).
Footage filmed in the Moscow region on Wednesday shows volunteers getting ready for the journey with their paw colleagues as well as loading boxes with humanitarian aid into the vehicles. In the video taken on Thursday children are playing with the volunteer group's celebrities - corgis named Marusya, Bilbo and Bublik at the Gorky Culture Hall.
The founder of Marusya and Friends, Leonid Kiselev, claimed that communication with dogs has 'a very positive result' for children with disabilities.
"People from the Lugansk People's Republic approached us, there are several centres there. The parents found out, the children found out [about 'Marusya and Friends' corgi group]. They wrote a letter to the governor of the Moscow region [Andrei Vorobyov], to the Russian president [Vladimir Putin] asking [us] to come. Naturally, we responded immediately," he said.
According to the rehabilitation centre's head Anna Soldatenko, communication with animals charges the children with positive emotions and 'restores' their strength.
"I have dreamed of a dog since childhood. A dog is my best friend in life," shared a teenager with disabilities Vadim Kamaliev, who became the happy owner of a six-month-old corgi puppy.
Corgi group volunteer Elena Alekseenko explained that the puppy has a 'very symbolic name' - Mir (Peace).
"We are very much rooting for the people who live [in the LPR]. They are our family. Now they live in our big, great family, country. We want people to feel that they are not alone, and our people support them," she stressed.
'Marusya and Friends' corgi group was established in 2020. The dogs are trained to find drugs, explosives and accident victims, but also participate in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the DPR and LPR, claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.