Mice and rat infestations in Russian dugouts have reached an all-time high so a “military-patriotic club” from Kazan is doing their bit for the war effort by sending cats to aid the Russians in their Ukraine invasion.
During the Tatarstan National Television (TNV) telethon “Join the Army of Victory!” on Monday, July 15 members of the Kazan-based “Legend” military-patriotic club (MPC) spoke about the rodent infestation in Russian dugouts and bunkers.
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Vladimir Malygin head of the MPC together with his wife Elena and students Mark Dedkov and Igor Belov, accompanied by two of their feline allies Ryzhik and Fighter, talked about the problems facing Moscow’s troops in Russia’s Northeast Military District, particularly in the Donetsk region and its mission to send cats to the front line.
Malygin said: “Our fighters complained to me that mice were bothering them. Cats saved the Hermitage [museum in St Petersburg] from rats and mice during World War II, and I thought, why not send them cats as well.”
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He said that Ryzhik and Fighter would soon be on their way as the next batch, the first having been sent last autumn.
Asked why Russian cats were needed as surely there were many Ukrainian strays, Malygin replied:
“A fighter told me that when he returns from a fight, his Russian cat runs towards him and purrs. He sees a mouse, catches it, and again runs to warm himself in the soldier’s arms.” He said this companionship was just as important as the killing of the rodents.
He went on to say that they needed to send cats from Tatarstan because “… local Donetsk cats stay away from the trenches and are running through the fields where there are many dead soldiers.”
By implication he was suggesting that it was easier for the cats to feed on the corpses of those killed in battle rather than by hunting mice.
The two schoolboy members of the MPC, Igor Belov and Mark Dedkov, were asked if they wanted to join the military when they were old enough. Belov said he would, “For me, the Motherland is my family, my loved ones. Everything I have.”
Dedkov was less certain and said: “I haven’t decided yet what I would like to become, but for me the Motherland is my parents, grandparents, our country Russia.”
The head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov has recently raised the bounty for volunteers for President Vladimir Putin’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine to 1.5 million Rubles ($170,000) – it’s not certain whether the cats will be rewarded for their service.
A KyivPost report in December highlighted the growing problem of rodents in trenches that had been occupied for long periods by Russian forces. Not only were mice eating food, which was often in short supply, and damaging clothing and equipment, but were also responsible for outbreaks of “mouse fever” – hemorrhagic fever.
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