In late October, journalists from Ukrayinska Pravda worked in the liberated Donetsk region. Together with volunteers from the Vetmarket organisation, we visited the Yampol Zoo. This is a private petting zoo in the village of Yampil, located near Lyman. 

Yampol Zoo, like the whole of Yampil, lived under Russian occupation for five months - from 29 April to 30 September 2022. And during this time, it lost several of its inhabitants.  

Volunteers and locals assume that some of them were eaten by the occupiers, in particular the Buryats. This version is supported by the fact that the remains of dismembered animals were found on the territory of the facility. Some animals probably died of starvation, while others managed to escape.

One bear, which had suffered concussion, was evacuated by the animal rights organisation UAnimals after the de-occupation. Several donkeys, a llama and a cat were taken away by volunteers from the aforementioned Vetmarket.