Ukrainians found a glimmer of hope during the war by releasing hundreds of bats into the wild

While the wages of war surround them, Alona Prylutska and her colleagues continue to do what they always do – rescue injured bats.

And these days, with all the buildings abandoned or destroyed in the ongoing war with Russia, there are more bats than ever that need rescuing.

This weekend, after a long winter of finding bats and nursing them back to life, the Bat Rehabilitation Center of Ukraine hosted its annual bat release. More than a thousand Ukrainians in a dozen cities came out to learn about the mysterious creatures of the night – and set them free.

“We offer this unique opportunity for people to hold a bat in their hands and release it back into the wild – just let it fly,” Prylutska, founder of the Bat Rehabilitation Center, told. As It Happened hosted by Dave Seglins.

“The war is there every day and, of course, we need good things … so our event is one of them.”

Long before Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, all 28 of the country’s bat species were listed as endangered.

Their biggest threat, Prylutska says, is conflict with humans.

“Unfortunately, people are afraid of bats in Ukraine. There are a lot of myths around it,” he said. “And then, the war also affects them.”

He says bats hibernate. In Ukrainian cities, they often do that inside buildings. So when rockets and drones destroy urban infrastructure, they also destroy bats — sometimes entire colonies at once.

War also brings displacement, he said, and when people leave their homes, bats sometimes become trapped inside.

“They give birth slowly – one or two offspring a year – so people recover slowly,” said Alona Shulenko, who led Saturday’s release in Kyiv.

All species of bats in Ukraine are protected by law, as the country is on an important transit route from eastern Europe.

The Bat Rehabilitation Center has been working for 20 years to not only help bats, but also change the narrative around them, which is why they established this festival to kick off spring 15 years ago.

Because of their work to stop flying mammals, people often call them when they find unwanted, injured or stranded bats in Ukrainian cities.

But rescuing them back to life is not always easy, says Prylutska.

“Their wings are very fragile. They are very easy to damage,” he said. “Fortunately today we have two vets on our team and they are doing an amazing, sometimes amazing job of rescuing those bats.”

During the spring festival, the center releases healthy bats so they can live independently in the cities they found them.

In Ivano-Frankivsk, where Prylutska lives, they released 50 bats. In Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, they released more than 500.

About 1,000 spectators in Kyiv cheered on the creatures as they flew to freedom, including families, off-duty soldiers, and bat enthusiasts alike.

“Life goes on despite the war,” said Oleksii Beliaiev, a 54-year-old resident of Kyiv who was there with his family. “War is the main thing right now, but there should be more.”

Prylutska says she is happy that there are people in Ukraine who are dedicated to saving people’s lives in trying times.

“It is very important, of course, to think about people, about children. But there are people who rescue animals,” he said. “We have been doing this for 20 years, and we keep doing it even during the war. It also helps us to stay alive and do something important.”

The charity says it has rescued more than 30,000 bats in total, including 4,000 last winter.

“We are doing our best, each of us, in Ukraine,” Prylutska said.