• Hundreds of dogs were found dead at a Ukrainian animal shelter in a town formerly occupied by Russian troops.
  • Animal rights group UAnimals said the dogs were left without food or water for weeks, CBS reported.
  • As a result, only 150 of the shelter's 485 dogs were still alive when volunteers arrived, UAnimals said.

More than 300 dogs were found dead at a Ukrainian animal shelter this week after occupying Russian forces left the surrounding area, according to CBS News.

The shelter, located in the town of Borodyanka near Kyiv, was home to 485 dogs that were kept in their cages without food or water since late February, CBS reported, citing animal rights group UAnimals.

When volunteers entered the shelter on Friday, only 150 of the dogs had survived, said the charity group, per CBS.

The outlet referenced a video tweeted by Oleksandra Matviichuk, a human rights lawyer and the head of the Ukrainian non-profit organization Center for Civil Liberties. The footage shows dozens of dog carcasses laid on the floor as a female volunteer walks through the shelter.

Warning: the following footage may be distressing to some readers.

A similar video of the Borodyanka shelter posted on Twitter by the Satellite News ATO account shows the carcasses of several emaciated dogs and a few others alive in their cages. 

UAnimals said that volunteers took 27 of the surviving dogs in the worst condition for treatment at private clinics, per CBS.

The animal rights group said it has only been able to retrieve some of the animals and is offering a $1,700reward for anyone who can help transport the rest, the outlet reported.

Links for donation channels to UAnimals can be found here.

On Sunday, Ukraine accused Russia of genocide and war crimes after it discovered dozens of massacred civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, saying Russian troops had carried out indiscriminate killings.

Horrific images and videos have emerged online of mass graves with hundreds of corpses and of bodies lying on the streets, in the wake of Russia's pullback near Kyiv.

Moscow has denied responsibility, with its defense ministry saying that "not a single resident has suffered from any violent action" while Bucha was under Russian control. The ministry instead claimed that the footage was staged and a hoax.

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