Two employees at the Feldman Ecopark Zoo in Kharkiv, Ukraine, have been found dead by their colleagues. In shock, workers there announced that Russian soldiers were responsible for the killings. The bodies were discovered while the animals were being removed from the site and safely taken to a region.
The staff were reported missing on March 7 when their colleagues returned to evacuate the animals during the Russian invasion. They were optimistic and believed that the two had run away and hadn’t returned yet.
A statement from Ecopark last Tuesday (19) said the victims had been found “shot by enemies” and the bodies hidden in a room.
“We searched for them for a long time, we called the police. until last [momento], we hoped that nothing irreparable had happened and that they had managed to survive. But yesterday we received confirmation that their bodies had been found.”
In addition, the zoo expressed its condolences to the family and friends of the victims, “wonderful and brave people,” and said it believed “the brutes who committed this will definitely be punished.”
Early in the war, Feldman Ecopark was heavily bombed and three other employees died.
The zoo had also been in the news on April 5 when it was reported that the zoo would be euthanizing its lions, tigers and bears after being hit by Russian bombs. The fear was that Russian bombs could destroy the enclosures and the animals would escape.
However, days later it was reported that some of their animals were moved to a safe place, which prevented them from being euthanized.
Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second largest city and is just 32 kilometers north of the Russian border. The site has seen some of the most intense fighting since the war began on February 24.
* Intern at R7under the direction of Pablo Marques