Lion attacks collaborator at safari park in Russian-occupied Crimea
A lion has attacked collaborator Oleg Zubkov at the Taigan Safari Park he founded in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported on June 22.
Zubkov is a businessman who renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and began cooperating with the Russian authorities following Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014
He also smuggled animals from zoos in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During an evening feeding, Zubkov was attacked by a lion which tore his trachea, neck, and chest muscles with its claws. He managed to leave the lion's enclosure but then lost consciousness.
As a result of the attack, Zubkov lost a significant amount of blood and was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Simferopol, Crimea.
Zubkov regained consciousness on June 23 after surgery, and his condition is described as stable.
This is not the first time lions at the Taigan Safari Park have attacked its staff. In 2024, three lions killed Leokadia Perevalova while she was cleaning an enclosure. Perevalova had worked at the park for 17 years.
