Russian attack | Ukraine: Russia left corpses behind and robbed Kherson zoo Raccoons and peacocks

Foreign countries|Russian invasion

Ukrainians In recent days, soldiers and authorities have been trying to find out what kind of horror, destruction and mess Russian soldiers have caused in the city of Kherson, which was retaken by Ukraine at the end of last week.

President of Ukraine to Volodymyr Zelensky according to the Sunday speech the Russians have committed “the same brutality” in Kherson as in other previously occupied and liberated areas. According to him, the Ukrainians are already investigating more than four hundred war crimes that are suspected to have been committed in Kherson.

Zelenskyi did not say in more detail what kind of actions the Russians are suspected of, but according to him, “bodies of both civilians and military personnel” are found in the liberated city. “We will find and bring to justice every murderer,” he stated in his speech.

The video shows how Ukrainian soldiers were received near Kherson:

In the past, there have been reports of rape, torture and indiscriminate executions in areas liberated by Ukraine, for example in the regions of Kyiv and Kharkiv. In a review published last week The state prosecutor of Ukraine saidthat Russians are suspected of more than 46,000 different crimes in connection with the major attack that began in February.

Of cruelty In addition, Russian soldiers are suspected of having extensively destroyed the infrastructure in Kherson and planted mines and booby traps all over the city. British newspaper The Guardian for example, says that by Sunday, the Ukrainians announced that they had already cleared more than 2,000 explosives from the city.

The looting of Khersonites’ property has also been large-scale.

“When retreating from Kherson, the Russian conquerors stole about 15,000 works of art, medical equipment, common household items from toilet seats to washing machines…basically everything that was removable was taken, from solar panels to cars,” said Kharkiv-based human rights organization KhPG on its website.

The organization mentions, for example, that the Russians have taken the city’s founder, War Marshal, from St. Catherine’s Church in Hersoniss Grigory Potemkin bones and a statue representing him. HS told about the bone theft at the end of October in this article.

American The Washington Post reported on Sundaythat in connection with the retreat of the Russian soldiers, several animals were stolen from the Kherson zoo, such as seven raccoons, two she-wolves, peacocks, a llama and a donkey.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine published a video on Twitter, which, according to several media reports, shows the owner of a private zoo operating in Crimea Oleg Zubkov. In the video, he moves the raccoon from the tail to the transport cage with unusual grips.

Zubkov runs a “lion park” called Taigan in Crimea. According to the Meduza website Zubkov received a prison sentence earlier this year after a tiger at his zoo bit a one-year-old child. He has recently been released.

Taigan park according to the website the zoo has about 60 African lions, which have an area of ​​more than 30 hectares at their disposal.

Russian according to news agency Tassi The animals of the Kherson zoo have been “evacuated” to Crimea. According to the news agency, the animals are to be returned to Kherson when the violence stops.

Russian believes that Kherson, Crimea and three other regions of Ukraine are part of the Russian Federation. In the opinion of Ukraine and the rest of the world, this is not the case.

Russia took over Kherson last March and staged a show-like and falsified “referendum” on annexing the city and the surrounding province of the same name. Last Friday, Ukrainian flags flew again in the city center.

Ukrainian flags flew in the center of Kherson on Sunday. Picture: VALENTYN OGIRENKO / Reuters