By — John Yang John Yang By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dog-with-prosthetic-paws-inspires-ukrainian-veterans-recovering-from-wounds-of-war Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio At a rehabilitation facility in Kyiv, some of Ukraine’s wounded warriors are working hard to learn how to use their new limbs. As John Yang reports, a very special dog named Lavr is giving them inspiration to persevere. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. John Yang: Before we go tonight, we want to introduce you to a very special and very good dog in Ukraine. John Yang (voice-over): At this rehabilitation facility in Kyiv, some of Ukraine's wounded warriors work hard to learn how to use their new limbs. If they need inspiration to persevere, they can look to a dog named Lavr. Man (through translator): You feel a sense of emotional relief, especially with a dog here on prosthetics just like us. It's truly wonderful. John Yang (voice-over): Lavr was found near Odessa's railway station after a train had severed his front paws. Now he uses prosthetic paws. They're made of titanium, just like amputees prosthetics. And like many of the patients, they're integrated with his bones through an advanced reconstructive surgery procedure called osseointegration. Lavr's owner is the founder of the rehab center. Viacheslav Zaporozhets, Founder, Tytanovi Center (through translator): It's remarkable that our work inspired the veterinarian, a trauma surgeon, to perform osseointegration on this dog, and it succeeded. They designed and produced titanium implants. John Yang (voice-over): He's a fixture at the center, playing with patients and joining in physiotherapy sessions. Lavr behaves as if his prosthetics were his natural paws. Viacheslav Zaporozhets (voice-over): The most important thing is that the dog has accepted the prosthetics. He doesn't chew them. He licks them, treating them as his own paws. If they felt artificial to him, he would have chewed them off. He's a dog, after all. John Yang (voice-over): As Lavr roams the center, he's making a difference in the lives of so many of these soldiers who lost limbs on the battlefield. Dmytro Zubariev, War Veteran (through translator): The dog can walk now, and I want to as well. Soon I'll be able to walk, too. Ivan Zhadani, War Veteran (through translator): The dog wants to live just like we do. And I'll walk too. Not on four legs, but on two. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Dec 14, 2025 By — John Yang John Yang John Yang is the anchor of PBS News Weekend and a correspondent for the PBS News Hour. He covered the first year of the Trump administration and is currently reporting on major national issues from Washington, DC, and across the country. @johnyangtv By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin is an Emmy and Peabody award winning producer at the PBS NewsHour. In her two decades at the NewsHour, Baldwin has crisscrossed the US reporting on issues ranging from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan to tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Northwest to the politics of poverty on the campaign trail in North Carolina. Farther afield, Baldwin reported on the problem of sea turtle nest poaching in Costa Rica, the distinctive architecture of Rotterdam, the Netherlands and world renowned landscape artist, Piet Oudolf. @lornabaldwin