‘It’s not just theft — it’s robbery’ How a Russian zoo owner in occupied Crimea uses the war as a pretext to take rare animals from Ukrainian territory

Oleg Zubkov is a Russian (formerly Ukrainian) businessman who runs multiple zoos in Ukraine’s occupied Crimean peninsula. He claims that in the last year alone, he’s removed around 100 animals from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, including rare species from the Askania-Nova biosphere reserve in the Kherson region. Zubkov maintains that he’s rescuing the animals from the dangers of war. But his actions are illegal under Ukrainian law — and according to Ukrainian animal rights groups, they may even qualify as a war crime. Activists and experts point out that he relocates animals without permission from Ukrainian authorities and without conducting proper environmental impact assessments. Meduza shares an abridged translation of a recent report on Zubkov’s activities by RFE/RL’s Crimean service, Krym.Realii.

Oleg Zubkov, who narrowly survived an attack earlier this summer by a lion he had taken from Mariupol, describes his mission as the “evacuation” of animals from so-called “gray zones” — areas not held by Ukrainian forces but still under fire — or from Russian-occupied territory where animals are allegedly at risk. But Ukrainian animal rights advocates reject that narrative outright, pointing out that Russia started the war and is now using the chaos it created as a pretext to seize animals and property.

“That’s like a serial killer saving his own victim only to go on torturing them,” said Marina Surkova, head of the Association of Animal Protection Organizations of Ukraine and legal director at URSA.

“In The Hague, he’ll be tried for international crimes regardless,” she added. “However they try to justify these actions with noble intentions, a crime is still a crime. They won’t be able to defend it — just like they justify abducting our children by saying they’re saving them from the war.”

Experts note that relocating wild animals, especially endangered species, requires authorization from relevant authorities, which Zubkov does not have. Under Ukrainian law, transfers from zoos or nature reserves must be approved by national environmental agencies.

“The Ministry of Environmental Protection has to assess whether relocation would harm the ecosystem,” Surkova explained. “The receiving side also has to evaluate the environmental impact. You can’t just take an animal from a nature reserve — that’s a crime. Every animal is the property of our country, our people. If it’s a rare species, it’s also protected under international law.”

Transporting wild animals across borders is even more restricted. It falls under the rules of CITES, the international treaty regulating wildlife trade. In late 2023, Zubkov tried to sell a tiger named Sherkhan — originally taken from Donetsk — to China. The tiger was detained in Belarus after being transported across the border illegally. According to lawyers, even the attempt to sell the animal violated international law.

“That’s trafficking in property knowingly obtained through criminal means,” said Anastasiia Hevchuk, a lawyer with the animal welfare organization UAnimals. She noted that such actions could trigger multiple criminal charges — both for the illegal seizure and for the attempted sale.

One of the most prominent cases came last year, when Zubkov entered the Askania-Nova biosphere reserve in Ukraine’s Kherson region. After reaching an agreement with Russian-appointed officials, he took animals from the park to Crimea.

According to Olga Filina, acting head of the Kherson Regional Administration’s Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the transfer included 12 Chapman’s zebras and three head of gray Ukrainian cattle, all of which were part of the reserve’s zoological collection.

“This was done under the framework of an agreement signed with [Zubkov’s] Skazka Zoo in Yalta and Taigan lion park [in Bilohirsk],’” Filina said. “But all of it violated Ukrainian law. That’s why we’ve submitted the case to our commission on damages from armed aggression.”

In addition to breaking Ukrainian law, taking animals from a national reserve without permission may constitute a war crime. Hevchuk pointed to Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which covers war crimes, and noted that international humanitarian law — including the Geneva and Hague Conventions and the Rome Statute — also applies. These legal frameworks establish personal criminal liability for the looting or unlawful seizure of property during wartime, including cultural and national treasures. In some cases, zoological collections can fall into that category.

“What they’re doing is moving the animals, quarantining them, and then sending them somewhere else. But for what purpose?” asked Surkova. “They started a war in one part of the country just to transfer animals elsewhere? That’s not just theft — it’s robbery, or even armed robbery. It’s the violent seizure of someone else’s property using weapons. And that’s a much more serious crime.”

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, many Ukrainian zoos have suffered. Facilities in Henichesk, Berdyansk, Mariupol, and Vasylivka in the Zaporizhzhia region have been occupied, while others — like the Feldman Ecopark in the Kharkiv region and the Nova Kakhovka Zoo in the Kherson region — have been heavily damaged by Russian attacks.