The story of a National Guard dog handler who rescued service dogs from Luhansk Region – photo

The National Guard of Ukraine told the story of the rescue of service dogs, which were evacuated from Luhansk region by Guards canine experts from temporarily occupied Rubizhny.

The head of the canine service, named Vadim, has been training service dogs since 2005. Since 2020, he has been serving in the 15th Slavic Regiment of the National Guard. Together with other soldiers, he went through severe trials in the battles for Rubizhne, Kreminna, Severodonetsk, Liman and other settlements.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the head of the canine service was in Rubizhny.

The National Guard also released a photo of one of the rescued four-legged animals.

Head of the canine service Vadim with the rescued ward. Photo: National Guard

“From the first day, we began to act as part of intelligence, and we fought with sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the enemy, who tried to operate in our rear.” – recalls the guardsman.

According to him, it was difficult, because he was responsible both for the lives of his personnel and for the service dogs that remained in the enclosures at that time.

The soldiers lost two service dogs due to artillery shelling. The operational situation in the Luhansk region then worsened every day.

A National Guardsman with a four-legged friend. Photo: National Guard

“The decision was made to evacuate all our four-legged brothers who remained alive to a safe place, because such intense combat operations and terrible shelling did not allow them to be used effectively”– said Vadim.

currently, the service dogs have been returned to Slovyansk, in order to restore the fighting capacity of the animals. They are now being re-engaged in stabilization efforts, searching for people injured or trapped in rubble, explosives and weapons.

Fighter Vadim and a service dog, which was rescued from the fighting in the Luhansk region. Photo: National Guard

The National Guard also returned to work with service dogs. He participates in special professional training for dog handlers.

Vadym is also engaged in the selection of service dogs for the canine service of the 15th Slavic Regiment, which takes place in several stages, and includes the assessment of the qualities of animals and their abilities to work in canine units.

It will be recalled that Oleksandr, a canine specialist from the National Guard, told the secrets of training the combat dog Rice, who participated in the Operation of the United Forces in Donbas.

Read also: National Guard canine experts showed how four-legged brothers are trained