Ukrainian dog reunited with his human in heart-melting airport scene

New York, New York - When Russia invaded Ukraine, Viktoriia Zalis fled Kyiv with her Maltese named Waffles. But after two long months, they were brought back together in a reunion that has the internet crying.

This little white dog from Ukraine was separated from his owner for two whole months!
This little white dog from Ukraine was separated from his owner for two whole months!  © Screenshot/TikTok/zalis_vic

"We left Ukraine from our country house with a small backpack on the second day of the war, thinking I would return home soon," Viktoriia told Newsweek.

"We traveled to Poland for 35 hours, of which 17 hours were spent at the Polish border. Before reaching the border, someone started shooting, and we ran into the forest, with many people releasing their dogs into the woods."

Though Viktoriia didn't release Waffles into the woods, she couldn't take him further than Poland: the little white dog was missing an essential rabies shot to be able to take him to the US.

Howdy, paw-rtner: Cat gives impressive acting performance in viral TikTok clip
Cats Howdy, paw-rtner: Cat gives impressive acting performance in viral TikTok clip

Eventually, the young Ukrainian woman was forced to leave Europe without her beloved canine companion.

Waffles the dog didn't recognize his human at first

As soon as Waffles recognized his human, he started bouncing!
As soon as Waffles recognized his human, he started bouncing!  © Screenshot/TikTok/zalis_vic

After two long months of waiting, Waffles was finally able to travel to New York, where he was reunited with his owner in an emotional scene.

As a now-viral video shows, Viktoriia was thrilled, but Waffles seemed confused by the whole situation at first.

The poor pooch didn't recognize his human until he got a whiff of her: that's when he suddenly lost it with excitement and started bouncing around like a bunny rabbit.

Over one million TikTokers loved the sweet reunion clip and celebrated in the comments.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshots/TikTok/zalis_vic

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