WEBVTT

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Die Übersetzung von Jans Stimme vom Deutschen ins Englische wurde mit einer KI erstellt.

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Die Black Leopard moves slowly, crouched low, toward the fence, growling softly.

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Her eyes are fixed on a dog walking beside me through the snow.

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Amira, that's her name, seems completely unimpressed.

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For her, this is everyday life.

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She knows the leopard is safely inside her enclosure and can't harm her.

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Dangerous, truly dangerous. Here is only the human being. In the background,

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artillery can already be heard.

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For the animals in Feldman EcoPark

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near Kharkiv, the war has long since become part of the soundscape.

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Before the Russian invasion four years ago, this park was a popular destination for families.

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Today, it is a place where animals

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continue to live under fire and where people try to cope with the war.

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Children from occupied territories, traumatized soldiers, journalists,

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rescue workers. The question is, how do you rescue animals in a war where there

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isn't even enough protection for people?

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And how can a zoo still become a kind of refuge?

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In Crisis Mode, the podcast from Conflict Zones with Jan Jessen.

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Hello, I'm Jan Jessen, crisis and war reporter for the Funker Media Group.

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During my most recent visit to Ukraine, I also traveled to Kharkiv,

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where I visited Feldman Ecopark, located about a 15-minute drive from this northeastern

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Ukrainian city of millions.

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Around 5,000 animals once lived in this park. In this episode of our podcast,

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I speak with two people who are fighting for the lives of these animals in very different ways.

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Olena Klimenko, the spokesperson for Feldman Ecopark, and Ralf Seeger,

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founder of the organization Helden für Tiere, known to many from the Vox documentary

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Harte Hunde, Ralf Sieger greift ein.

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Wir beginnen in der Park mit Olena. Wenn du auf Feldmann Echo Park kommst,

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die erste, die du in der Entrance sehen kannst, ist eine große, black Memorial Board.

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Auf es sind Bilder von Menschen, die ihre Leben zu retten, die Tiere zu retten.

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Animals, die die in den Russland wurden, die in Februar 2022 verabschieden.

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At der Zeit, die Frontline über Kharkiv rollen.

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Russland waren in der Stadt, und die Krieg in der Stadt auch machte massive damage. zu diesem Zoo.

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Was folgt war ein Unprecedented evacuation effort.

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Thousands of animals waren brought to safety. Others that had escaped from destroyed

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enclosures were recaptured.

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All of this took place under life-threatening conditions and six people lost their lives.

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That blackboard at the entrance of the park commemorates them.

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Olena welcomed us as we entered the park and guided us through the grounds.

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It's a vast area, covering around 140 hectares. It feels like a mix between.

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Als erstes als Januar, eine Glidebomb hat den Ort geführt.

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Last Jahr gab es viele Droner-Aktiken, so die Park ist noch nicht sicher,

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aber die Tiere sind nicht sicher. wieder hier leben.

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At the beginning, I asked Olena what kind of place this park is.

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She told me it was founded in 2011.

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At its peak, it housed around 5,000 animals from roughly 300 different species.

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In addition, it offered therapy programs for children with disabilities,

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for veterans, and for people simply seeking rest and recovery.

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There was equine therapy and other services, and everything was free of charge.

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The park was funded by an oligarch, a very wealthy man for whom it was important

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to create a place like this in Kharkiv, a place for relaxation and escape.

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People from all over Ukraine used to come here to unwind, to stroll through

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the grounds and to see the animals.

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And then, as mentioned, the Russian invasion began.

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All the time, everyone was talking about the war, but everyone was hoping it

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would never actually happen.

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Evacuating 5,000 animals at once would have been impossible.

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When we began the large evacuation, around 300 animals died due to shelling

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and stress, and six of our employees and volunteers were killed during these attacks.

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I am grateful to all the zoos and animal parks that took in animals.

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The animals were distributed all across Ukraine.

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This shelling lasted nearly 200 days. For 200 days, the zoo was under constant fire.

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Naturally, no enclosure remained intact. As Olena said, around 300 animals were killed.

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Many others escaped at the time, fleeing into the nearby forests.

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They were later brought back or recaptured by helpers and transported to the

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west of the country to keep them safe.

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As I mentioned earlier, six people lost their lives.

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Six staff members who tried to help, who attempted to get the animals out safely.

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They were killed during the Russian shelling.

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Then, in the autumn of 2022, a Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed Russian forces

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back behind the borders.

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That's when the constant shelling of the park finally stopped.

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The park's management began to consider reopening, to start bringing animals back.

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But the damage from that time is still visible today.

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There are small memorials marking where rockets struck. Craters can still be

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seen. At the same time, it's clear how much has been rebuilt in recent years

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and that many animals have returned.

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There are wolves in the park, bears, leopards, including the very rare black

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leopard I mentioned at the beginning.

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There are many birds and even a kind of petting zoo.

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The park is, in a way, alive again, but it remains dangerous.

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At present, there are about 1,500 animals here, compared to the former 5,000.

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Many of them are animals rescued from combat zones.

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This war in Ukraine is devastating for wildlife.

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Rockets, artillery and mortar fire are destroying entire forest areas near the front lines.

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Deer, roe deer and other animals are dying in large numbers.

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People fleeing war zones often leave their animals behind.

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Pets like dogs and cats, but also livestock such as cows and pigs.

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The team at Feldman EcoPark takes care of these animals. At the same time,

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the park has once again become a

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place where people come, People who are themselves traumatized by the war.

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I want to ask Olena what rehabilitation here actually means in concrete terms.

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Rehabilitationen Programme sind Menschen, die sich psychologisch verabschiedet hat.

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Ich bin selbst die Menschen, die über die Ocupation verabschiedet hat.

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Wir offeren eine große Menge Aktivitäten hier.

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Ich selbst experience die Ocupation, und dann kam hier und starte arbeiten in der Park.

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Die Gruppen, die zu uns kommen, sind sehr divers. Some simply want to sit quietly

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with the animals, others go to the llamas, hug them, feed the lemurs,

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talk to the animals, just to find a bit of calm.

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There are also groups who come here with psychologists, especially with children.

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We then organize different activities and sometimes even bring facilitators to work with them.

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And we offer hippotherapy, meaning therapy with horses.

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Wenn es die Kinder, dann können wir uns anwählern anwählern anwählern anwählern

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anwählern anwählern anwählern anwählern anwählern.

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Olena is not just the park's spokesperson, she is herself shaped by the war.

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She lived through the occupation and now works in a place where people hug llamas,

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feed monkeys and sit in small garden shelters, just a few kilometers from the front line.

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But Feldman EcoPark is not only a rehabilitation center for people,

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it is also a refuge for animals that no longer have anyone.

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And unfortunately it remains a target of attacks. As I mentioned earlier,

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when you walk through the park, You can see fresh traces of strikes everywhere.

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The large aviary that was hit in January.

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The drone attacks in the middle of last year. It all feels somewhat surreal.

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You can't help but wonder, why attack a zoo? Why target a place like this?

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Olena doesn't have an answer either. She takes me to the contact area,

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essentially the park's petting zoo, and shows me a goat.

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It looks adorable, white, with a shaggy tuft of hair, and very trusting.

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It comes right up to us. Und, als sie mir mit einem smiley sagt,

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»This ist die größte Mann im ganzen Zoo.«.

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Das ist Snowy. Der Großteil ist 92, und der Großteil ist 98.

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Sie lieben ihn und nicht wollen ihn zu begetan, so er hat ihn zu uns gegeben.

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Er ist jetzt, so zu sprechen, der man in der Stadt der Nähe ist.

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Diese sind nur die Pets von den Bereichen der Frontline. Und das hier ist unsere Kontakt-Zone.

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Anyone kann kommen, spenden mit ihnen, hug sie. Especially Kinder love es.

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Last Jahr, ein Schahead-Drone struck hier in der Kontakt-Age und zwei Götz.

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Some others suffered concussions.

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A drone that simply, randomly, hit our animals.

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It's already hard to comprehend. On the one hand, there is this petting zoo,

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a place where children come to spend time with the animals, to pet them,

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to feed them, to enjoy a moment of normality.

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And then, Russian forces fire a drone into exactly this area.

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Of course, it is impossible to say with certainty what exactly happened,

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whether it was a malfunction, whether the drone was shot down.

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It is difficult to imagine that something like this was deliberately intended,

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even though this war is marked by numerous war crimes.

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In any case, this is not a military target in any meaningful sense.

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If anything, it feels like a waste of ammunition to strike a place like this.

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But as I said, we simply don't know. Was ist sicherlich, dass es sehr distressing

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ist zu hören, was passiert in diesem Zoo.

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Aber Feldmann Eco-Park ist nicht nur mit Schellingen, es ist auch mit etwas,

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was viele Menschen will erkennen von den news.

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Russische Anfragen auf Energie Infrastruktur.

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Last Winter, ich sah das selbst. Hundreds of thousands of Menschen in Kyiv,

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Odessa und Kharkiv waren nicht ohne Energie.

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Und of course, this also affects Feldman Ecopark.

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Power outages are life-threatening in a zoo that keeps exotic animals,

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Die Probleme sind wirklich sehr, weil wir auch von den Abläuern beschäftigen,

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wie die Elektrik, und sie verliebt sind.

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Wir haben viele Probleme mit Elektrik und Heating.

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In einigen Bereichen, die Wärmung auf die Elektrik beträgt auf die Elektrik,

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und wir haben constantes Power-Otages.

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Wir haben Tiere, wie Zebras, Möge und Lemurs, die in den Umständen müssen,

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wo die Temperatur nicht mehr unter

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25 Grad Celsius ist. Wenn die Kraft rauskommt, wir auf die Generator.

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Aber weil sie fast alle Zeit laufen, sie ständig abbrechen.

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Wir sind sehr dankbar zu unseren Partnern aus Deutschland, die uns mit Generatorn

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und Finanzamt unterstützen.

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Denn Sie können nicht sagen, dass es heute kalt wird, und wir werden nicht mehr können, Sie heute.

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Wir sind wirklich dankbar, dass sie mit den Generatorn unterstützt,

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und mit einer bestimmten Unterstützung.

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Und dank dieser Stelle, wir haben auch wirklich die Zimung verletzt.

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So, as a result, generators from Germany are being used in an attempt to keep the animals warm.

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They also rely on heating, something I witnessed myself, by using wood in some areas.

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In certain enclosures, especially in the monkey houses, you can see smoke rising from the roofs.

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When I asked about it, I was told they have started using wood for heating because

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there is not always enough diesel for the generators.

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And even when there is fuel, the generators cannot run continuously,

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they would simply break down. So they improvise, as they so often have to do.

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In this case, heating is partially done with wood.

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At the same time, Russian forces repeatedly target the energy infrastructure

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with missiles and other munitions, striking substations and other critical facilities.

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In that sense, Feldman EcoPark has also become a symbol of many aspects of this war.

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Civilian infrastructure under attack, volunteers forced to improvise,

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people stepping in to help, and a massive dependence on external aid.

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Another person who repeatedly travels to the front lines to rescue animals is Ralf Seeger.

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Many may know him from the Vox documentary, Harter Hunde, Ralf Seeger greift ein.

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Ralf is a martial artist, animal welfare activist, and founder of the organisation Helden für Tiere.

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Since the beginning of the Russian invasion four years ago, he has been travelling

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to Ukraine again and again.

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I spoke with him about why he decided to become active in this war and how dangerous

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his missions are. Vielen Dank.

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Also bei mir war diese Entscheidung also sofort gefallen.

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Der Krieg hat angefangen und, oder der Krieg fing an, so muss man das sagen.

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Und ich habe zum Wort zum Steve gesagt, du musst fahren und dort helfen.

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Am Anfang war er natürlich nicht so begeistert. Steve war wie ich auf ehemaliger

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Fallschirm. For me, that decision was made immediately.

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The war had started, or rather, I should say, when the war began.

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And I told Steve, I have to go and help there. At first, he wasn't too enthusiastic

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because he naturally thought, man, we might not come back from this.

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Steve, like me, is a former paratrooper and knows the dangers of war,

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and he understands what can happen there.

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That was always a major issue. But shortly afterwards, he came to me and said,

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wherever you go, I'm coming with you.

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And then, right from the very beginning of the war, we set off,

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straight to Borodyanka.

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At that time, Bucha and Erpen were already there. Es war extrem schlecht.

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Und das ist es, dass wir sofort begannen.

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Wir konnten nicht weitergehen. Ich still remember Boradyanka in particular.

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Es war ein verrückter Fall, mit mehr als 700 oder 800 dogs in einem shelter

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die die Hörer hat, die die Tiere zu fendern.

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Und Sie haben einfach zu verstehen, dass sie sich nicht mehr zu tun haben,

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weil sie nichts zu essen haben.

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Und sie dann hat sie die deaden Böden ihrer companions. Ich sage es genau so.

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Ich habe viele Tiere dort auch. Wir haben sie in Kyiv gebracht.

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Wenn man die Augen in die Augen sieht, war es einfach sehr heart-breaking,

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zu sehen, was diese Schmerzen hatten.

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Es war eine sehr, sehr schwierige Zeit.

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Wenn man dann in die Augen von diesen Tieren geschaut hat, war das einfach nur

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schlimm, was diese armen Wesen mitgemacht haben. Das war eine sehr schlimme Zeit.

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Ralf Seeger set out at a time when many were still wondering how long this war would actually last.

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He and his team were already standing in the suburbs of Kiev,

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in Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, places that would later become synonymous with war crimes.

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He says that animals do not distinguish between Russian or Ukrainian,

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and he in turn does not distinguish between humans and animals.

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After that, we were of course able to continue traveling into the Donbass region,

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which we still do to this day, and we carried out many, many large-scale rescue

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operations there, for both humans and animals.

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It was always bilateral, because I think it is important that,

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when you are operating in a war zone, you help wherever help is possible.

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I don't differentiate between whether it's a cat, a dog or a human.

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I try to evacuate everything.

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Ja, das ist, natürlich, sehr kommentierbar. Ich muss sagen, dass ich manchmal ein bisschen flinche.

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Wenn die Leute so tief in die Worte, so stark mit den Anfragen,

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ich auch in meiner eigenen Erfahrung bemerke, wenn ich etwas über die Worte

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auf sozialen Medien beschreiben, ich bekomme eine solidere Antwort.

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Aber wenn ich etwas über die Anfragen, über ein Schönen Hund sitzen irgendwo

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allein, die Reaktionen sind sicherlich stärker, und diese Posts erreichen viel mehr Menschen.

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Und das macht mich manchmal wundern ob die Standards haben sich geändert.

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Aber was ich wirklich an Ralf ist, dass er sagt, wir versuchen,

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alles zu schützen, including Menschen, die in危险.

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Er ist nicht nur auf die Föße auf die Tiere.

00:16:36.418 --> 00:16:40.938
In der gleichen Zeit, muss man auch sagen, dass was Ralf Seeger und andere animal-rescuers

00:16:40.938 --> 00:16:42.478
sind, ist extrem gefährlich.

00:16:42.738 --> 00:16:45.578
Die Frontline in Ukraine hat sich verändert dramatically.

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In der Beginn, waren mainly reconnaissance drones in den air.

00:16:49.558 --> 00:16:53.578
Today, working near the front has become extremely dangerous for journalists,

00:16:53.918 --> 00:17:00.398
but also for aid workers, because the so-called kill zone has expanded to around 40 km in depth.

00:17:00.898 --> 00:17:04.518
Drones are everywhere in the air, attacking anything that moves through the

00:17:04.518 --> 00:17:07.858
area, and I asked Ralph how much this has changed his missions.

00:17:09.088 --> 00:17:13.608
Jan, wir haben am Anfang, wie ich das schon erwähnte, schweren Beschuss erlebt

00:17:13.608 --> 00:17:15.828
immer durch Akküllerie.

00:17:16.428 --> 00:17:21.848
Raketen, die waren sehr gefährlich, denn man muss wissen, die sind extrem stark.

00:17:22.508 --> 00:17:26.108
Zum Beispiel die S-300. At the beginning, as I already mentioned,

00:17:26.328 --> 00:17:29.368
we experienced heavy shelling, mainly artillery and rockets.

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They were extremely dangerous.

00:17:31.528 --> 00:17:34.588
You have to understand, they are extremely powerful. For example,

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the S-300 systems. If you were within a few hundred meters of an impact,

00:17:39.248 --> 00:17:40.468
you were effectively gone.

00:17:40.768 --> 00:17:45.728
Over the years, it has become much more insidious, especially what you mentioned, drones.

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That is something that is no longer controllable. Wherever you move,

00:17:49.948 --> 00:17:51.928
you basically have almost no chance.

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That is why I carry out my missions together with Kraken, the Ukrainian Military

00:17:56.408 --> 00:18:00.868
Special Unit, and the White Angels, the National Police Unit of Ukraine.

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Sie haben speziell Equipmenten, aber nur diejenigen, die nicht kontrolliert werden.

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Against Fiberoptik Dronen, es gibt keine Möglichkeit, sich zu retten.

00:18:11.528 --> 00:18:14.648
Good Freunde meiner Freunde, ich bin in Kupiansk mit ihnen auf meiner letzte

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Mission vor Weihnachten.

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Ich habe auch zwei Kinder, weil

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ein Dronen die Haus neben der Tür geflogen hat, und der Mann hat died.

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Wir haben sie geflogen. Shortly afterwards, the dam of a huge reservoir was blown up.

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And those two people who were with me on that very day, a 23-year-old female

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police officer and a 35-year-old male officer, were a few weeks later in exactly

00:18:38.008 --> 00:18:41.288
the same area and were hit by a drone. They didn't survive.

00:18:41.588 --> 00:18:43.748
I have experienced this so many times.

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In that place, life and death are sometimes incredibly close to each other.

00:18:53.828 --> 00:18:57.988
Und die beiden gibt es nicht mehr. Das habe ich so oft erlebt,

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Leben und Tod ist da manchmal ganz irgendwie beieinander.

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Ja, und natürlich muss man sagen, dass Ralf auch die Geschichte von Feldmann Eco-Park folgte.

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Wie ich sagte, am Anfang der Krieg, als die russische Forces in Februar 2022

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eröffnet wurden, war das Park unter konstantem Schelling.

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Viele, viele Tiere sterben. Helper haben auch ihre Leben verloren,

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während die Tiere evakuieren.

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Und Ralf hat das selbst gesehen. Er war da auch auf der Seite.

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Wir waren in Harkow und dann kriegte ich durch den Sascha mit,

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aber auch durch die Polizei von dort, von Harkow, dass im Ekopark noch viele Tiere sind.

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Ich kannte den Park gar nicht und dann wurde mir gesagt, es ist fast unmöglich

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dahin zu kommen, weil der Okkupant auch noch Teile vom Park kontrolliert.

00:19:55.324 --> 00:20:00.164
Ich wusste gar nicht, was das ist. Das ist so ein Freizeitpark gewesen mit vielen

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Tieren da drin. Ja, als du gesagt hast, Eko Park.

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Ich erinnere mich, wenn wir in Kharkiv waren, und dann habe ich von Sascha,

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aber auch von der Polizei in Kharkiv, dass es noch viele Tiere gibt.

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Ich wusste nicht, dass es dann auch nicht möglich ist, weil die occupierenden

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Teilen waren, die es noch nicht kontrolliert.

00:20:24.544 --> 00:20:30.544
Ich wusste nicht, was es war. Es war quasi ein Leisure Park mit vielen Tiere im Hintergrund.

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Ein sehr guter Ort, aber auch außerhalb Kharkiv.

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Wir fahren dort, und es gab noch viele Checkpoints, und sie fast nicht uns durch.

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Natürlich war es mit Sascha, und dann kam wir, und dann sah wir eine große Bison,

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die noch ein paar Bison tiefer waren.

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Ich glaube, da waren auch ein paar Lions und Bears da.

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Auf der Weg, ein whole group of Pigs, die es kamen, kam vor uns.

00:20:57.809 --> 00:21:03.389
Und dann war die Ukraine schon wieder da. Sie waren in den Trenchen, in den Trenchen.

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Und sie sagten uns, hurry, hurry, get out of hier, weil die Schelling immer wieder kommt.

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So we left again, but we also met staff members from the park.

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I think a day or two later I learned that people had been killed there as well

00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:23.509
in those attacks. And many animals had died.

00:21:24.169 --> 00:21:27.769
Nazar and Arrest, for example, were there with us.

00:21:27.949 --> 00:21:32.809
They also rescued a goat, which I believe is still alive today in Lviv,

00:21:33.089 --> 00:21:39.989
at Domivka. Es war eine ziemlich wilde Situation, und ich still remember die Wälde da sehr clearly.

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Huge impact craters überall, right next to the roads, constant shelling.

00:21:47.169 --> 00:21:50.929
Ich bin eigentlich glücklich, dass es jetzt wieder peace ist in dieser Bereich.

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Aber wir müssen nicht vergessen, dass so viele Tiere, die in der Nähe des Lebens,

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die nicht weg sind, die in schulden.

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Entweder von starvation or were torn apart by shells and rockets,

00:22:03.989 --> 00:22:08.989
and that many people also lost their lives there. Da in dem Gebiet wieder Ruhr eingekehrt ist.

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Ich war, wo wir letztes Nacht, wo Chans gefahren sind, auch noch da vorbeigekommen.

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Habt ihr wieder gesehen, dass dort gearbeitet wird. Also das freut mich,

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aber man darf nie vergessen, dass dort so viele Tiere, die auch eingesperrt

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waren, die da nicht wegkamen, die haben keine Option gehabt,

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ganz, ganz schlimm verhungert sind oder zerfetzt wurden von Granatenraketen

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und dass natürlich da auch viele Menschen ihr Leben gelassen haben.

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Es ist nicht über die Fronten auf eine map. Es ist über sehr konkrete lives.

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A Goat wie Snowy, die Kinder, die Kinder, die sie zu strocken,

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die sie, die sie, die sie, die sie, die sie, die sie zu leben.

00:23:04.406 --> 00:23:07.966
Olena hat gezeigt, was war zu einem Ort war, das war ein Publikum,

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months von Schelling in 2022, destroyed enclosures, dead animals,

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dead colleagues. Und yet, sie hat es geübt.

00:23:16.946 --> 00:23:20.806
Für mich, das auch wurde ein Symbol von Ukrainianem Resilienz,

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Das ist das, was wir oft gesagt haben, in diesem Podcast zu sprechen.

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Diese Determination nicht zu geben, zu sagen, wir gehen, weil wir sehen, in diesem Ort.

00:23:30.526 --> 00:23:34.946
In diesem Fall, es ist ein Ort die Menschen brauchen, wo sie sich calm finden,

00:23:35.166 --> 00:23:37.246
wo sie sich zurückkehren, wo sie sich von den Horrors haben,

00:23:37.786 --> 00:23:41.926
wo sie auf der Fronten erleben, wo sie Soldaten, Journalisten oder Rescue-Worker

00:23:41.926 --> 00:23:45.166
sind, und wo Kinder von den Unterrichtern von den Unterrichtern auch kommen können.

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Und manchmal, alles überlappt. In diesem Park heute, sie auch in die Tiere aus

00:23:52.878 --> 00:23:54.418
den Frontline-Ares nehmen.

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In dem sind die Tiere, die in den Nets getrennt, die jetzt über die Reise in

00:23:58.638 --> 00:24:02.338
den Combat-Zonen zu protecten Menschen von Schelling und Drone-Attacken.

00:24:02.438 --> 00:24:06.698
Diese Net-Tunnel, die für Kilometreien, sind es um Menschen zu retten,

00:24:06.698 --> 00:24:09.298
aber für die Tiere, sie werden ein Threat.

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Tiere getrennt in sie, und sie, auch, finden ihre Weg zu Feldmann-Eco-Park,

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wo sie versuchen sie zu retten.

00:24:16.078 --> 00:24:20.458
Ralph Seger tells a similar story from a different angle, from vans full of

00:24:20.458 --> 00:24:25.438
dogs and cats, from destroyed villages, from operations alongside special units,

00:24:25.678 --> 00:24:28.058
where drones can become lethal at any moment.

00:24:28.538 --> 00:24:32.438
He travels from the Lower Rhine to the front lines because it is not reasonable,

00:24:32.818 --> 00:24:37.458
but because he believes it is right, to bring back animals and humans who otherwise

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would have almost no chance.

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Neither Olena nor Ralph can stop this war, and neither can we,

00:24:43.418 --> 00:24:46.998
Aber sie können sich nicht alles, was wir sehen, wie wir die Menschen sehen,

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die wir sehen, wie wir die Tiere sehen.

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Und das ist wo wir kommen, ob wir schauen, zu schauen, zu tun,

00:24:53.378 --> 00:24:58.438
zu erzählen, oder zu schauen, weil wir nicht mehr sehen, die Kriege.

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Das, auch, ist eine Entscheidung, und es hat die Vorteile für Menschen und die Tiere.

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Das war Krissen Modus. Der Podcast wurde von Alexander Baumeister,

00:25:10.638 --> 00:25:16.258
a journalist working at a radio station within the Funkamedia Group If you enjoyed this episode,

00:25:16.398 --> 00:25:20.678
follow us and leave a rating It really helps make our work more visible and

00:25:20.678 --> 00:25:25.898
feel free to send me suggestions for future episodes at christenmodus at funkamedian.de

00:25:25.898 --> 00:25:29.478
Take care, see you next time All the best, bye.