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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 As night falls over a nature park on the edge of Kyiv<\/a>, children crowd around volunteers who carefully open cloth bags and release bats into the twilight.<\/p>\n As each one takes flight, snapping through the air, more than 1,000 spectators cheer and applaud \u2014 families, off-duty soldiers, and bat enthusiasts, a few dressed in Goth outfits.<\/p>\n Hundreds of bats, many rescued from war-torn areas in the east of the country, were released late Saturday at one of multiple events around Ukraine planned to coincide with the arrival of spring.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is important for us as an organization because these are on a red list of endangered animals. Preserving them is very important,\u201d said Anastasiia Vovk, a volunteer at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, which organized the release.<\/p>\n All 28 bat species in Ukraine are listed as protected animals due to declining populations.<\/p>\n For many attendees, the event offered welcome relief and an excuse for a family outing after a harsh winter<\/a> marked by subzero temperatures, nightly Russian drone and missile attacks and crippling power cuts.<\/p>\n Late Saturday, children, many wearing bat-themed T-shirts and hats, watched as volunteers fed the animals mealworms with tweezers before letting them go. Some were allowed to wear gloves and handle the bats themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cLife goes on despite the war,\u201d said Oleksii Beliaiev, a 54-year-old Kyiv resident who attended with his family. \u201cThe war is the main thing right now, but there has to be something else as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Beliaiev runs a small printing business and spends time volunteering for army projects.<\/p>\n