A soldier's last wish. Get my dog to safety.

A Ukrainian soldier fighting on the frontline had one request for a rescuer named Lala, owner of the group 12 Guards. Take my dog to my mother. The soldier found the puppy, Cesar, shortly after Russia invaded in 2022, and kept him close through years of a war now described as the deadliest in Europe since World War II. Cesar became what the soldier called his brother in arms. As the fighting continued, the soldier worried less about himself than about the dog beside him, so he asked Lala to carry Cesar somewhere safe. When she arrived, the soldier had to lift Cesar into the rescue van himself. The dog did not want to go. The two said goodbye, and Cesar rode away curled on Lala's lap. "Love means action," she said. Lala and a colleague, Krystina, keep answering calls about animals left behind in war zones, and rely on donations to feed them until they find homes.