A man who refused to abandon his dog in Ukraine has finally made it out of the country - after a hellish journey that saw his pet kicked and denied travel.
As Ukraine fell under attack from the Russian military, Muhammad Talha, 26, was desperate to escape to safety.
But he quickly found himself denied travel due to refusing to leave his 11-month-old dog Oscar behind.
Determined not to leave his precious pooch in Ukraine, Muhammad repeatedly sought avenues whereby he would be allowed to bring husky Oscar along.
And the inseparable pair finally managed to board a train from Ukraine to the Polish border on Tuesday.
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General medicine university student Muhammad made it from Dnipro, where he lives, to Lviv before crossing the border into Warsaw, Poland, with Oscar in tow.
And, after a nightmare journey where the poor pet was kicked by border guards, Muhammad and his dog are finally with a Polish family who are hosting them .
Muhammad said: "No airline would allow me to travel to Pakistan with Oscar and many guards stopped us from boarding trains to Poland.
"We were completely stuck but I couldn't make a decision that would involve leaving my baby.
"Lots of my friends who managed to leave Ukraine told me, 'come on, it's only an animal which costs less than your life'. But I refused to leave Oscar behind.
"Crossing a border in a situation like war and other disasters leads to a lot of unwelcome situations.
"We faced many problems, especially when you're accidentally surrounded by people who hate dogs, it just worsens the situation.
"I was forced to stay in line with people who were foreigners in Ukraine even though I'm a native.
"The queue was disorganised and people were in a crowd rather than a proper line.
"People had no respect for a dogs life. Huskies seek attention in many ways, including licking people.
"They kicked my boy several times when he tried to touch people. The thought of getting kicked out of the line and being thrown back into Ukraine stopped me from reacting, otherwise I'd have taken great pleasure in doing so.
"When the crowd reached the end of the queue, I was pushed from people behind me which caused me to land on my face. Some Indians tried to lift me up whilst others tried to walk over me.
"I wasn't scared for me - I was just scared for my innocent boy with me.
"My hosts in Poland are treating me like one of their family. We are fed and taken care of well. I join them for family dinner and Oscar is holding up alright, making friends with our hosts' dogs.
"All of the trouble has been worth it for the love I have received from this Polish family."
