A significant portion of the animals that the owner of the Crimean parks “Kazka” and “Taigan”, Oleg Zubkov, transported from the occupied territories of southern Ukraine has disappeared. Animal rights activists suggest that the animals may have died due to inadequate care or been sold on the black market.
This was reported to the “Crimea.Realities” project by a Crimean animal rights activist on condition of anonymity.
According to her, the Russian regulatory authorities in occupied Crimea have completely withdrawn from overseeing the keeping of the transported animals.
Zoo activists who periodically visit the Taigan lion park note that many of the individuals whose removal Zubkov promoted are no longer in the enclosures.
“All our requests receive absurd replies. There is a strong sense that Zubkov is simply being covered up. Many of the transported animals are already gone. Where are they? Most likely they were either sold on the black market or died due to inadequate care,” the source says.
Oleg Zubkov himself, in an interview with propaganda media on February 20, 2026, confirmed that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion he transported more than 300 animals to Crimea from Kherson, Zaporizhia and Donetsk oblasts. He continues to call his actions “rescue” and claims that he acted on requests from the occupation authorities.
Zubkov assures that he is ready for an “equivalent exchange” of the animals after receiving a request from the institutions from which they were taken. At the same time, he acknowledged the death of the residents of the zoo in Kakhovka during the blowing up of the Kakhovka HPP dam, accusing the owner of the establishment of not having sent him a “request for rescue”.
Since 2022 Oleg Zubkov has been transporting animals to Crimea from the occupied territories of mainland Ukraine.
Last year Suspilne Crimea reported that Oleg Zubkov brought the largest batch of animals for his zoos from the occupied territories of Ukraine. Five vehicles delivered 120 animals to the occupied peninsula, among them monkeys, leopards, ostriches, tigers, lions, peacocks, antelopes and brown bears. At that time he himself claimed that this was his 15th trip to mainland Ukraine for animals and that practically the entire zoo located on the Arabat Spit was transported.
In 2024 the occupiers removed zebras from the biosphere reserve “Askania-Nova” in the occupied part of Kherson oblast. They were brought to Crimea to the Taigan safari park.
In the summer of 2025 in Crimea, Zubkov was attacked by a lion.