12.04.2025, 14:54

Bagheera, whose photo in 2023 became a symbol of salvation in hope, dies

Bahira the shepherd dog, who was rescued from the water in June 2023 after the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was blown up by Russian invaders, has died. As a reminder, the occupiers destroyed the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on June 6, 2023.

The photos of this dog, which were taken from different angles by two Ukrainian talented photojournalists, spread all over Ukrainian social networks and became a symbol of salvation, thirst for life, strength and hope.

Photo: Danilo Pavlov Reporters magazine. A dog hugs the leg of volunteer Ruslan Gorbal from Kharkiv, who saved it from drowning, Kherson, June 7, 2023.

The head of the Berserk Animal Rescue Federation Lyudmila Melnikova, who found Bagiri's new family, told Suspilne about the dog's fate and death

According to Lyudmyla Melnykova, a shepherd dog named Bagira, rescued after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, lived for a year and a half in a new family in Mykolaiv region and died on April 9.

According to Lyudmyla, the dog did not immediately find a new family because of major health problems. Her former owner, who later officially abandoned Bagira, did not take good care of the animal:

"The dog lived on a chain, one and a half meters long, it was in a neglected state, it didn't even eat all the time," said Lyudmila.

And when the hydroelectric power station was flooded due to the explosion, a neighbor managed to unhook the shepherd from the chain, so she survived. But because of her age - Bagira was over 8 years old - and because she spent almost a day and a half in the water, her hind legs were paralyzed. In addition, Bagira had almost no teeth.

"Probably, she tried to get out of the chain and ground them down," suggested Lyudmila Melnikova.

But after two months of rehabilitation, Bagira started walking, and volunteers found a new family for her in Mykolaiv region, where she lived for the last year and a half. These were happy years for both Bagira and her new owners.

"When we first brought her in, we let her out of the transportation and she immediately licked her new owner's hands. From the first minute she accepted him," said Lyudmila Melnikova, adding that the dog always followed her owner everywhere: "They were inseparable."

The author of the photo of rescued Bagheera, Ukrainian photojournalist Serhiy Korovaynyi, known for his work covering the Russian-Ukrainian war and a James Foley Award winner for conflict reporting, in his Facebook post about the dog's death, which he made famous, wrote:

"A shepherd dog rescued by animal rights activists from icy water in Kherson after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station has died. The media write that in recent years she lived happily on a farm somewhere in the south. I still remember taking this photo and not believing it myself when I was reviewing the footage - her gesture was so human. And the Russians have never been brought to justice for this and other crimes."