Home > Movies > Documentary > Dogs and War: What I saw in Ukraine (2025)

Dogs and War: What I saw in Ukraine (2025)

Name: Dogs and War: What I saw in Ukraine
Director: Akane Yamada
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2025-02-21
Duration: 1 h 49 min
Rating: 10.0
Cast: Akane Yamada, Masahiro Higashide, Viktor Kopach, Przemysław Malik, Olena Kolesnykova

A Japanese filmaker's three-year journey in Ukraine, portraying the lives of animals and humans in war. "Through dogs' eyes, the truth of war/"

IMDb 10.01h 49mDocumentary

Find Where to Stream

Plot Summary

When Russia invaded in February 2022. Japanese director Akane Yamada travelled to the war zone to document an often-overlooked story - the fate of animals and the people who refuse to abandon them. Known for her work in disaster zones since Fukushima, Yamada witnessed animal welfare groups mobilising at the Polish border to help refugees and their pets, and followed Ukrainians who continued to adopt shelter animals amid the chaos. In Borodianka, near Kyiv, she uncovered the tragic deaths of shelter dogs left behind during occupation. Her three-year investigation led her deep into Ukraine's frontline regions, from flooded Kherson after the Kahkovka Dam's destruction to a children's hospital in Kyiv struck by a missile. Through the stories of people who refuse to abandon animals even amid the devastation of war, this documentary portrays the resilience and dignity of those who refuse to surrender to violence.