Video of Russians Stealing Animals From Kherson Zoo Viewed 300k Times

Bizarre footage has gone viral of retreating Russian soldiers stealing animals from a zoo during their hasty retreat from the Ukrainian region of Kherson.

Troops in uniform are shown struggling to load a llama into the back of a van, while another clip shows a soldier chasing a raccoon in its enclosure before grabbing the hissing animal by its tail.

The video, which was tweeted by Anton Gerashchenko—adviser to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine—was uploaded on Sunday and less than 24 hours later had already been viewed more than 325,000 times.

He captioned the footage: "While retreating from Kherson Russians stole animals from the local zoo. A stolen racoon [sic] caused the most talk - on the video it is fighting with all his strength."

Newsweek has not been able to independently confirm when or where the footage was taken.

Nevertheless, the video swiftly gathered tens of thousands of views and was also retweeted almost 3,000 times, with many internet users baffled by the scenes and wondering what the army wanted to do with the animals they had taken.

Many blasted the apparently rough-handed soldiers for frightening or perhaps hurting the animals, while others wondered whether the creatures were being taken to be used as food to feed Russian troops.

Some reports have suggested the Russians have been going hungry and have not been regularly paid.

Many Twitter users were shocked that the army's hurried retreat, which usually involves a taking weapons and tactical equipment away so their enemy can't later make use of them, had apparently factored-in time to take zoo animals away too.

One wrote: "So let me get this straight. ru [Russia] leaves behind men and equipment and weapons, but steals animals from the zoo?"

But others found the situation comical, and jokes and memes were soon circulating online.

One Twitter user shared a mocked-up movie poster by editing the one used for the Hollywood film Saving Private Ryan. The title had been changed to Saving Private Raccoon and featured a shot of the creature looking heroic on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his generals were in the background.

But some of those online were more interested in unmasking the men involved. Several Twitter users alleged that one of the soldiers in the footage was Oleg Zubkov, a Crimean zookeeper, who they alleged would want the animals for his own venue.

One Twitter user claimed the footage clearly showed "Oleg Zubkov, a zookeeper in Crimea who sided with the Russians. He's stealing them and taking them to Crimea while saying he is doing it for the good of the animals without the Kherson zookeeper's desire or permission."

Another shared a YouTube video of a man playing with lion cubs and a tiger inside an enclosure. The man bore a striking resemblance to one seen in the viral video and the tweeter claimed this was Zubkov, alleging: "Apparently that thief from the video is controversial owner safari park in occupied Crimea who has million views on his YouTube channel... for sure he deserves some social media magic to take it down."

Newsweek has been unable to independently verify the allegations and has attempted to reach out to Zubkov about the claims.

Russian soldiers have been accused of looting and theft since the war started back in February when Russian President Vladimir Putin sent in his troops for what he said was a "special military operation."

As early as three days after the invasion began, videos began to go viral on social media allegedly showing Russian troops looting Ukrainian banks and grocery stores. There have also been reports claiming Russian soldiers returning home for visits were particularly interested in taking washing machines and other household items such as fridges with them. One video shared online purportedly showed Russians stealing a children's amusement park train.

Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry and Ukraine's Ministry of Defense for comment about the claims Putin's troops have looted Ukraine, including some of its zoo animals.

It's not the first time that the fate of Ukraine's zoo animals have hit the headlines during the war. Animals from a sanctuary near Kyiv were evacuated to Poland back in March. While a month later, a heartbroken zookeeper in Kharkiv announced he would have to euthanize all his large animals, including lions and tigers, after Russian shelling destroyed their enclosures.