Ekonomichna Pravda reports that the occupiers looted and destroyed the factory, according to Oleg Bakhmatyuk’s Avangard Agricultural Holding, which owns the largest poultry farm in Ukraine and Europe, “Chornobaivska” company (Kherson Oblast).
According to the holding’s statement, “due to the death of 4.4 million birds, law enforcement agencies have classified the situation in the Oblast as ecocide committed by the occupiers.”
In early March, the largest poultry farm in Europe, “Chornobaivska,” was left without electricity, unable to feed the poultry, transport workers to workplaces, and export products due to the Russian occupation.
“Approximately 4.4 million chickens died of thirst and hunger. The inability to feed the birds killed the majority of them. The death of such a large number of birds without the possibility of use is an extraordinary occurrence, if not an environmental disaster. This issue has become so critical that it was raised separately at a UN General Assembly meeting,” the holding stated.
They also stated that Russian occupiers robbed the factory after the occupation. They took everything valuable.
- Total financial losses due to Russian aggression at around ₴12 billion ($330 million)
- Losses from poultry deaths amount to approximately ₴0.7 billion ($20 million)
- The lost income from unlaid eggs amounted to about ₴5.8 billion ($160 million)
- Damaged and stolen equipment worth approximately ₴5.5 billion ($150 million)
The company’s statement emphasizes that the destruction of critical industry production has resulted in a shortage of chicken eggs in Ukraine.
“Prosecutors from the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office are currently carrying out procedural guidance in criminal proceedings on the case of mass destruction of wildlife. It causes an ecological catastrophe (Article 441. Ecocide of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Russian troops’ mass shelling of the village of Chornobaivka,” the agricultural holding’s statement elaborated.
