After the beginning of the war, many countries took home their nationals living in Ukraine.
During this period, a photo of the evacuation attracted the attention of netizens.
This is a photo taken on a Ukrainian bus bound for the Romanian border,
A girl who didn't look very old sat in a seat with a huge dog's head in her arms.
The girl in the photo, arya Aldrin, is a 20-year-old medical student.
In 2020, Arya came from Kerala, India, to study at the National Force Pirogov Memorial Medical University in Vinnytsya, Ukraine, where she made some friends who were also from India.
In December 2021, a friend who knew Arya loved small animals gave her a two-month-old husky, and Arya loved the cute puppy so much that she named it Zaira.
One man and one dog quickly became good friends,
When Arya goes to class, Zaira will be quiet at home waiting for her little master to come home;
After raising Zaira, Arya also pushed away most of the social activities and has been at home with Zaira.
The two of them got along very happily until the war began...
For Arya's safety, her relatives and friends advised her to put Zaira in foster care for someone else first, but Arya told them:
"I will not give up on Zaira no matter what, and no one will love it as much as I do."
Arya insisted on evacuating with Zaira, and her parents respected her decision at her insistence.
So Arya began to go through all the formalities for Zaira.
The officials Arya met were friendly to the critters,
With their help, Arya was able to complete procedures such as pet passports, vaccination documents and microchips in one day.
Then, on February 26, two days after the start of the war, Arya took Zaira with her friends and left where they were studying and living.
They took a bus to the border between Ukraine and Romania.
Along the way, gunfire and strangers frightened Zaira, who was only five months old, clinging to his little master and burying his head in her arms.
There was a long queue of vehicles waiting for the crossing, and the bus driver put them in a group about 20 kilometers from the border.
The next stretch of the road, they can only walk on their own.
20 kilometers, which is only a ten-minute drive, but for Arya, it is far enough.
They were carrying their own food, water, and dog food, and Arya happened to be menstruating these days, and her back was very uncomfortable.
To make matters worse, Zaira didn't know what was hurt, and didn't go far, when it suddenly began to limp and look very painful.
Arya didn't think much of it and just picked up Zaira.
At this time, although Zaira was only 5 months old, it already weighed 16 kilograms.
Arya's first reaction was: "When I picked it up, it was resting on my shoulder like a little baby..."
Arya just held the 16-kilogram husky and walked to the border step by step.
Despite the help of her companions, she stopped and rested many times.
They were forced to throw away most of their food and water to ease the burden, and by the time they finally reached the border, All that was left of Arya's backpack was dog food and various documents.
But that's not the end of it, the journey home is still far away.
The crowd at the border lined up, and Arya waited in the crowd for 7 hours.
During this time, Arya also had to hold Zaira non-stop, because every time the gate opened, the fleeing crowd would push and shove, and once Arya did not pick up Zaila in time, it was kicked and cried out in pain.
When it was finally their turn, Arya's companion made it through the gate, but she and Zaira were pushed behind by another group of students.
Desperate, Arya had to lift Zaira up to prevent it from being squeezed.
Fortunately, just then, a Ukrainian soldier noticed Zaira and called them over, and Arya and Zaira crossed the border and came to Romania.
When they arrived in Romania, they were taken to a shelter, and Arya was given some food and water.
A well-meaning volunteer found her shoes worn out and gave her a pair of second-hand shoes.
A few hours later, they were taken to another shelter closer to the airport. The police officer in charge of the security here liked the humble Zaira, so he gave them some food and helped them take a taxi to the airport.
After arriving at the airport, Arya searched for a plane to return to India in order to be able to return home with Zaira, but was denied boarding several times because of Zaira.
However, Arya did not give up, searched for a whole day, and finally found a plane willing to transport Zaira, but Zaira had to be kept in a cage with luggage.
When they got on the plane, Arya let go of her heart.
The stewardess brought her some food, but she secretly saved it, intending to leave it for Zaira to eat.
In the meantime, the story of Arya and Zaira has become news, and many people know that a little girl is fleeing with her closest dog friend.
When she landed, a large group of reporters gathered around to interview Arya.
However, Arya did not delay much time, got off the plane and took Zaira to check her body, get vaccinated, and then return to her hometown.
Now Arya has been back home for a while,
She said Zaira had adapted to her home environment, which was much hotter than Ukraine, but Zaira had adapted well.
Arya laughed and said:
"The only bad thing is that now Zaira seems to prefer to be with her mother, and I'm out of favor..."