Mar. 19 — Chloé Zhao, Oscar-winning Beijing-born director and writer, is raising money for the animal rescue organization Animal Rescue Kharkiv, she wrote on her Instagram. The highest bidder at the auction will have an opportunity to chat with Zhao.

Zhao wrote, “I’m excited to collaborate with @charitybuzz to invite you to join me for a virtual cup of tea, all benefits go to the amazing Animal Rescue Kharkiv (ARK).” 

“This intimate online conversation offers a rare opportunity to engage with the artist behind Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider, Eternals, and Nomadland, the latter earning three Academy Awards,” Charitybuzz’s website says. Chloé Zhao also directed the Oscar-nominated Hamnet (2025).

Animal Rescue Kharkiv was founded in 2016 and rescues animals from combat zones of the Russian-Ukrainian war, takes care of them, provides treatment, and finds them new homes. During the years of their work, they say they have saved 34,000 animals, including cats, dogs, farm animals, and fish.

Apart from endangering residential areas where animals live along with people, Russia often purposefully targets farming facilities. 

On Mar. 5, one of the Russian drones hit near the municipal company “Animal Handling Center,” damaging the buildings and injuring animals, said Mariia Kutsenko, the press secretary of the center. 

On Mar. 13, Russia struck a farm in the village of Artemivka of the Chuhuiv district. The kamikaze drone attacked the warehouse where sunflower seeds were stored and damaged a residential building and agricultural equipment. 

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