[More than two million of those crossed the border to Poland, where AFP has witnessed droves of animal lovers ferrying dogs, cats, parrots and turtles to safety. Some people who fled the war left their pets behind. (Photo by=AFP/Aleksey Filippov)]

 LVIV: At the "Home for Rescued Animals" in the city of Lviv, exotic creatures are now sheltered alongside everyday pets - those left behind in the rush of refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The United Nations estimates more than 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the war began a month ago, BBC reported.
 

More than two million of those crossing the border to Poland, where AFP has witnessed droves of animal lovers ferrying dogs, cats, parrots, and turtles to safety. Lviv - just 70km (45 miles) from the border - has been the final stopover on Ukrainian soil for many making the journey out of the war zone. Some soon-to-be refugees felt unable to take their pets further. Zalypskyy estimates his shelter has taken in 1,500 animals since the war began, from migrants and shelters in "hot spots" to the east.
 
Between 10 and 20 were collected from Lviv's train station - the locus of chaos in the first days of the war, where carriages and platforms heaved with desperate passengers. However, the animals left here do not languish. Around 200 have been adopted by the locals of Lviv, while most of the rest are taken onwards by volunteers to Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania. There are currently no cats available for adoption - they are all bound for Poland.