A charity has braved a war zone and missile attacks to rescue a refugee ex-circus bear from Ukraine whose relocation to a sanctuary was stopped by the Russian invasion. British filmmaker Andrew Drury, journalist Richard Ashmore and animal rescuer Lionel De Lange drove 280 miles through a warzone on Saturday and Sunday to save 22-year-old brown bear Masha. The trio spent 36 hours in the besieged country transporting the 140kg female bear in the back of a specially converted large transit van. Masha, who spent 19 years of her life in a circus, had been due to be relocated on Feb 28 from Sambir, near Lviv, Ukraine, to a sanctuary in Romania. Sambir lies in easy reach of Russian missiles and just a few kilometres from Masha’s temporary home strikes had killed soldiers and destroyed infrastructure. Lionel De Lange, founder of Warriors of Wildlife, flew into Ukraine on February 21 to transport Masha to Libearty Bear Sanctuary in Transylvania. But three days later Putin’s war machine began its assault and Lionel was forced to leave his home in Kherson near the Black Sea and return to his native South Africa. Vowing not to leave Masha behind Lionel and two Brits launched their daring rescue mission to return to save her on Saturday March 19. Mandatory credit: Warriors of Wildlife / T&T
