Il Nuovo Postiglione - Russian drone hits Ukrainian animal shelter

An AFP reporter at the scene saw volunteers in tears, some embracing each other or sweeping away rubble.

One volunteer carried a dead dog away in a wheelbarrow.

"It's terrible. The dogs were torn by shrapnel, pieces of their bodies were stuck to the fencing. It's very difficult for me to talk about it," said 18-year-old volunteer Alina Fober.

"I feel very sorry for the dogs. I knew all of them, helped them. They were very good, beautiful dogs," she added.

The attack took place around 9:00 am (0700 GMT), 41-year-old staff member Iryna told AFP.

"We heard this terrible buzzing sound, then an explosion," she said.

The scene outside was horrible, she added.

"All the dogs that were there at that moment, right here, were dead. Enclosures, trees, debris, smoke, fire. It was scary."

In addition to triggering Europe's biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II, Russia's four-year invasion of Ukraine has caused direct suffering to animals.

A Russian drone attack on a farm in Ukraine's northeast Kharkiv region last October killed around 13,000 pigs, according to rescuers. The month before, a Russian attack on an equestrian club near Kyiv left seven horses dead.

The animal shelter hit Friday, known as "Give Me Your Paw, My Friend", lies about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the front line in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and had been taking in rescues for more than a decade.

D.Campanella--INP