Export of animals to Crimea: occupation director sentenced to 15 years

The occupation "director" of the Askania-Nova Nature Reserve was sentenced to 15 years for exporting rare animals.

According to the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office, Ukraine has passed the first sentence for a war crime against a nature reserve during a full-scale war.

The court found the so-called "director" of the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve guilty. Following a public prosecution by the environmental prosecutor's office, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property and a 15-year ban on holding public office.

The investigation established that after the occupation of the reserve in 2022, the convict headed a pseudo-institution created by the invaders and organized the illegal export of animals together with representatives of the Russian Federation.

Among the exported animals

• Chapman's zebras
• American bison
• David's deer
• Przewalski's horse (listed in the Red Book of Ukraine).

Some of the animals were illegally transferred to the Crimean lion park Taigan.

According to the prosecutor's office, the total amount of damage is UAH 85.2 million.

The Askania-Nova reserve has international status and is part of the UNESCO network of biosphere reserves. Its facilities are protected by international humanitarian law.

The illegal export of animals is qualified as a war crime - a violation of the Geneva and Hague Conventions.

Earlier, Intent wrote that Volodymyr Saldo, who already has a sentence for high treason, was served with a new suspicion. Along with him, 11 other people associated with the activities of the illegal armed group in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region were suspected.

In addition, on March 20, 2026, the Office of the Prosecutor General sent an indictment to court against Volodymyr Saldo, one of the key collaborators in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region.

Андрій Колісніченко