Ukrainian President calls model after she refuses to leave virus-hit Wuhan without dog

A young Ukrainian model is refusing to be evacuated out of virus-hit Wuhan without her small dog, prompting an extraordinary call from the country’s president.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised to extricate a young woman who refused to board an evacuation flight out of virus-hit China without her small dog.

Anastasiya Zinchenko, a 22-year-old model, was due to fly out on Thursday with a group of 72 Ukrainians and other nationals from the city of Wuhan, the centre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

But she decided to stay when the Chinese authorities said she could not take her Pomeranian dog, Michelle, on board because she lacked the necessary papers.

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Zinchenko with her Pomeranian dog ‘Misha’. Picture: Instagram/nastyazinchenko_

Zinchenko refused to evacuated out of Wuhan without her dog. Picture: Instagram/nastyazinchenko_

“We won’t leave you there. I wanted to phone you personally, because for me this is very important,” Mr Zelensky said in a phone call to Zinchenko, a recording of which she posted on Instagram.

“We will certainly find ways and means. We will find a way to get you back.”

Ukraine so far has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people and infected over 74,000, mostly in China.

A group of 45 Ukrainians and 27 citizens of other countries on Thursday arrived in Ukraine on a special flight from Wuhan.

As rumours and panic spread, locals blocked roads and threw stones at buses as evacuees were taken to a medical facility in the central Poltava region.

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Mr Zelensky’s spokeswoman confirmed the president had called Zinchenko “to calm her down”.

Authorities “are working” on finding ways to evacuate the woman and her dog, spokeswoman Yuliya Mendel told the AFP news agency.

Zinchenko has been working in China since 2017. Picture: Instagram/nastyazinchenko_

She said she would never “betray” her dog. Picture: Instagram/nastyazinchenko_

Zinchenko comes from Kherson in southern Ukraine and has been working in China since 2017.

She has posted numerous photos of herself cuddling her fluffy white dog, known as Misha for short, on social media.

“I will never abandon her or betray her. She is my friend and my family,” Zinchenko wrote on Instagram earlier this month.