Salvo, a large black-and-tan dog rescued as a puppy in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, now visits patients at the UNBROKEN rehabilitation center in Lviv with his owner, volunteer Kostyantyn Bidnyi, according to a 16 September report by Ratusha. The visits bring dogs and patients together for play, simple activities, or time spent nearby.

The visits are part of UNBROKEN ANIMALS, a volunteer project in which people bring their own household dogs to the rehabilitation center. UNBROKEN says its center has treated more than 20,000 wounded Ukrainians since Russia's full-scale invasion and provides physical, psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation, making the dog visits one small part of a much larger rehabilitation setting.

Patients can choose whether to play with a dog, walk it on a leash or simply spend time nearby. One patient, Vyacheslav, said, “I almost never skip the dog sessions.”

In one session, a blind patient who had lost both arms could not take part in most of the usual activities with Salvo. Volunteers described the dog's size, coloring, ears and tail to him, and he tried to touch Salvo, spoke to him, and then talked with people nearby, Bidnyi told Ratusha.

The activities can include throwing a ball, giving a command, offering a treat or walking the dog on a leash. Bidnyi said these simple actions can work on movement and coordination while the dog provides emotional motivation.

“We don't treat anyone,” Bidnyi said. Doctors and rehabilitation specialists handle patients' medical recovery, while the volunteers provide emotional support.

Salvo is one of several dogs that take part in the sessions. Ratusha reports that two or three owners usually come with their pets, giving patients different dogs to interact with. The animals are not specially trained working dogs; they are the volunteers' own pets, who accompany them to UNBROKEN on designated days. What starts as a regular outing becomes an hour of volunteering before the pairs return to their usual routines.

Salvo's name carries both halves of his story: in Latin, the language medicine still runs on, salvo means I heal, I keep safe — and the same root gave English "salvo," an artillery volley.

The EU plans to use money remaining under its €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program to create a new program for joint projects with Ukrainian companies, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on 16 September. She announced the plan during her State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has pushed the EU to spend more on defense and build up its own weapons industry. SAFE was created as part of that effort, giving EU member states €150 billion in loans for defense spending. Ukraine is also facing heavy defense costs, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy putting its additional defense funding gap for 2026 at $27 billion.

"Using the remaining funds from SAFE, we will be setting up a new programme for joint projects with Ukrainian companies," von der Leyen told the European Parliament.

EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius estimated that the unused portion of SAFE could amount to €10 billion to €20 billion, UNN reported. The exact sum will be known only after member states report on their SAFE projects by the end of October. The announcement caught several governments off guard: Poland and other capitals say the Commission never discussed it with them, and Warsaw had been counting on taking up the funds other countries declined for its own projects.

The proposal would allow unused money from member states' SAFE allocations to be redirected to joint projects with Ukrainian firms. One likely destination is Freya, the joint European-Ukrainian air and missile defense system meant as a cheaper answer to the American Patriot, which von der Leyen described as the start of the collaboration rather than the end of it.

In 2025, Ukraine gained associate partner status in SAFE and access to the EU's European Defense Fund, allowing Ukrainian companies to compete for contracts and co-develop military systems with European firms.

Fifteen member states have since said they plan to buy Ukrainian weapons through the program, and Canada joined it in December 2025 as the first non-European partner. Bulgaria agreed SAFE-funded joint weapons production with Ukraine in March 2026.

The war is costing Ukraine more every year, the government says. Its draft 2027 budget proposes ₴4.885 trillion ($110 billion) for defense needs, nearly 44% of GDP.