You can always judge a person, or a nation perhaps, by the way it treats animals. I'm following the war in Ukraine via a few Twitter accounts - defence journalists, military experts, government officials and advisors, and the like. Plus quite a few animal rescue supporters. Over and over again, there are posts about animals being saved, by both civilians and military. The latest involves a little black house panther, on the now famous Snake Island.
"The man who saved him told the story of the kitten's rescue.
"In the first stage of the operation, we took a picture of the island's territory with a drone," said the special forces soldier, wearing a mask to conceal his identity, while the kitten, just a few months old, curled up in his hands.
"The commander saw the little comrade, and included the task of bringing him back as one of the mission objectives."
Was it hard to find a little kitten on a big, windy island?
"We thought it would be difficult, but he found us," the soldier said. "The report we made to the commander after we left the island was: 'Mission complete, no casualties. One additional team member - a kitten called Snake.'""
Ukraine war: 'Mission complete. One additional team member: a kitten called Snake'
There is also a You Tube clip, and in the bit where they show little Snake being first found when they were on the way to raise the Ukrainian flag, as they raise the flag, if you look closely you can twice see just the tip of a little black tail right at the bottom. 
https://youtu.be/13akSqL3gzY
