Frightened dog rescued after three years stuck in cavity between apartment block and shop

The dog - now named Volya - or 'Freedom' - would bark and wail, especially in the fierce cold of winter in Khabarovsk. The cramped dark enclosure adjacent to a cellar was wedged between a nine-floor apartment block and a shop.

Cruelly thrown in as a puppy, she was nicknamed the prisoner of Chateau d'If, after the fortress jail in the Bay of Marseille. Residents had made attempts over the years to lure the dog out of the hole, and pull her free, but she was too frightened, and retreated out of reach. They fed her daily. 

The Emergencies' Ministry were called but they declined to help rescue her. The housing company and shop refused to help, but eventually a public campaign helped to secure the animal's release. 

A new apartment block resident was so shocked at the dog's three year entrapment that he raised the issue in the media, and help came from animal rights activists. 

People advocated just smashing the wall but there were fears the dog could be killed or hurt. 

One activist Karina Dombrovskaya said: 'We studied the structure of the basement, and looked for options. The dog was not just sitting in the narrow slit, she had a narrow pass under the basement of the shop. Naturally, over the years, she had dug some passages and could move there.'

A welder Andrey Chernov offered to widen the feeding hole, but the dog refused to come out. Another activist, slim Darya Stepantsova, 27, climbed through the narrow hole.

'I thought I could just get inside, throw a loop round the dog's neck and pull her out. But when got there, I was shocked - for years the dog had dug tunnels there... At first I thought it was unreal to catch her. 

'She was hiding there and I could not get in. So I had to literally dig trenches to try and get her out. I crawled closer to the dog, threw a loop over her head, and tied her muzzle with a bandage. At some point I got into a dead end and thought that I'd never get out. I pulled myself together and pull out the dog.'

Darya said: 'I was scared, it was difficult. There was no space for a person under the basement and I had to dig trenches with my bare hands. I was breathing only cement dust and sand. A couple of times I was in despair, but I overcame these feelings. I managed to pass the dog out through the hole with my last effort.'

The dog was checked by vets and found to be basically healthy. 

She is now in a temporary shelter. She is scared of people, open spaces and light. The animal tries to hide, and find an enclosed space or dig into the sawdust. But there are hopes she can now find a proper home.