A 20-year-old Indian student who fled Ukraine with her Siberian Husky has drawn both admiration and trolling.
Arya Aldrin and her five-month-old puppy, Zaira, undertook a gruelling journey from the city of Vinnytsya to Romania, from where she was evacuated on an Indian government flight.
When rumblings of the war began in Ukraine, Arya says her only thought was, “whatever happens, I can’t leave Zaira”.
On her way to the Romanian border, she had to walk 20km (12 miles), carrying Zaira for much of the way – while dealing with a backache from her period.
Her devotion to the animal won her praise, though some questioned why the Indian government should accommodate animals on evacuation flights when humans were in danger.
But Arya says Zaira didn’t take up space meant for humans – she travelled in a cage in the cargo section of their flight from Romania to Delhi.
“I am a medical student – we are taught to save lives without discrimination. And it’s not like leaving her behind would have helped anyone,” she says.
