“Rescue my pet jaguar, panther from Ukraine”

An Indian-origin doctor, who was in Ukraine when the conflict with Russia broke out in February, has approached the Indian government -- in an unusual plea -- to help rescue his pet jaguar and panther he left behind when he was forced out of the war zone.

Gidikumar Patil, known as Jaguar Kumar because of his unusual pets, says his topmost priority is to save the life of his "precious cats", our New Delhi correspondent reports.

The 42-year-old doctor was forced to leave them behind with a local farmer when he left Luhansk in eastern Ukraine after holding out there for a few months.

Patil, a Ukrainian citizen since 2016, bought the animals from a zoo of Ukraine capital Kyiv.

When Patil ran out of money, he crossed over to Poland to earn a living so he could keep feeding his cats.

Reports said Patil is now living in a hostel in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, with other Ukrainian refugees.