"They travel to the front line": combat cats Mavik and Leo cheer up border guards – photos, video
Two border guards from the Carpathian Detachment have returned from their frontline rotations with some new furry friends: Mavik [like the Mavic drone – ed.], a black cat, and Leo, a tabby.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has dubbed the animals "sPETScial border guards".
"Mavik, the black cat, came to Lviv Oblast from Kharkiv Oblast. In 2023, border guards found this frightened little kitten, nursed him back to health, and took him with them," the border guards say.
This is the second year that Mavik has travelled with the military to the front line, and he lives at the unit’s permanent deployment point during rotations. He is responsible for the absence of mice in the dugout. And during his time with the military, he’s even learned to hold out his paw on command.
"He’s so calm. He was born in the east during an attack – he’s a combat cat," says a serviceman who goes by the alias Rai (Paradise).
Leo, a tabby cat from Lviv Oblast, was given to a border guard who goes by the alias Kaban (Boar) by his mother-in-law. Leo also travels to the front line, and he warns the military about attacks by his behaviour: he hides or climbs a tree.
"My wife's mother gave him to me. They had two cats: a white one and this one. He was nimbler and more energetic, so I took him.
Whenever there was an attack, he’d immediately climb a tree or hide behind me. He slept with me on my bed in the basement," recalls Kaban.
Once Kaban thought Leo had run away into the forest. But the story had a happy ending: the cat came back three hours later.
"Pets are a good thing for soldiers at the front. They’re comforting, and help them to keep going," the State Border Guard Service said.
Background: Earlier, servicemen from Ukraine's National Guard spoke about their morale-boosting cat Kotusko, who used to carry out "strategic tasks" near their positions.
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