Washington Post: “As Russian tanks neared Kyiv earlier this year, the capital’s suburbs were emptying fast. Terrified residents poured out; roads were gridlocked. Asya Serpinska walked the other way. The 77-year-old had spent two decades keeping her animal shelter going in Hostomel, a town northwest of Kyiv. With the threat of Russian occupation now looming, she thought, there was no place in Ukraine that needed her more. Shelling boomed out as she arrived at the shelter. Through the gate she recognized the howling and whimpering of various animals. “I knew it was my responsibility to look after them,” Serpinska recalled. With three colleagues, she kept most of the 700 dogs and 100 cats alive — and even rescued a lion — as Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged shelling overhead, and as Russian forces repeatedly entered the property and threatened their lives…”