Russia bombs Kharkiv zoo on first day of 2026: Most birds killed, lions wounded, volunteer in hospital after assault

On the first day of 2026, Russian forces struck the private zoo Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv Oblast, killing most of the parrots, pheasants, and other “elite birds” kept in winter enclosures.

The strike was reported by Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration. According to him, a Russian guided aerial bomb, also known as KAB, hit directly on the territory of the ecopark in a suburb of Kharkiv.

KAB strike on a zoo: fate of tigers unclear

The condition of the tigers remains unknown. One of the predators escaped from its enclosure and ran into another building after the explosion. The lions were wounded. 

“All our sedatives were stored in the building that was hit by the KAB. We are waiting for a tranquilizer rifle to move the tiger to another enclosure,” said ecopark owner Oleksandr Feldman.

Injured civilians, destroyed enclosures, wounded lions

According to updated information, the aerial bomb exploded on the ground on the ecopark’s territory.

A 40-year-old woman was injured and hospitalized with blast trauma.

Feldman said that the injured person was a volunteer, and her injuries were relatively minor.

“She had a head laceration and got into the ambulance on her own. The predators’ winter enclosure and the birds’ winter facility are completely destroyed,” Feldman told Suspilne Kharkiv.

Ecopark under fire since 2022: captivity, executions, and a volunteer’s death

Feldman Ecopark has repeatedly suffered from Russian attacks.

In the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale war in 2022, the ecopark fell under Russian occupation. At that time, two civilian zoo employees were captured and executed by occupying forces.

After the territory was liberated, during subsequent shelling, a teenage volunteer was killed at the zoo.

The new strike on the first day of 2026 once again confirms that the Russian army systematically attacks civilian objects, where there is no military infrastructure, only people and animals.