March 24, 2026

“The system needs to change, otherwise we will end up as livestock instead of cows.” Pro-war bloggers even spoke out against the mass slaughter of cattle in Siberia

The slaughter of livestock in Siberian villages became one of those cases when the Russian pro-war public openly doubted the authorities' actions and spoke about what was happening with open irritation and conspiracy theories. Telegram channels of Z-bloggers are full of accusations against the Ministry of Agriculture, regional officials, and police officers. The authors, some of whom participated in the war against Ukraine, call what is happening “lawlessness,” “reprisals against small producers,” and suspect the concealment of a dangerous foot-and-mouth disease virus. Some also hint that the situation with the livestock slaughter is a deliberate sabotage in favor of large agricultural holdings. "Novaya-Europe" reports on how propagandists reacted to the situation and decided to dispute the state's line. Disinfection of a car in the village of Verkh-Irmen during quarantine, Novosibirsk region, March 17, 2026. Photo: Alexander Kryazhev / Sputnik / Imago Images / Scanpix / LETA. Warning, the text contains profanity. The last family in the village of Kozikha, where protests were held, agreed to the slaughter of livestock. In the Siberian village of Kozikha, whose residents protested against the mass slaughter of livestock, all animals were euthanized. The Mironenko family agreed to hand over their livestock for destruction under the pretext of fighting rabies and pasteurellosis. This was reported by the farmers' daughter Daria, adding that her parents "also gave up": "Kozikha is over. It is very difficult to talk about, but it is true. We are not heroes, we are ordinary people who could not. Who knows how you would have behaved in this situation," she said. Livestock were also destroyed from the farmer Petr Polozhaev from the village of Chernokurye, who had previously managed to drive away veterinarians and law enforcement officers from his yard by dousing himself with gasoline and threatening to set himself on fire. As the publication "Lyudi Baikal" wrote, the Polozhaev farm remained the only one in the entire village with live cows. All livestock were destroyed in the village of Novopichugovo, despite residents' protests. In Siberian villages, the mass slaughter of livestock has been going on for the second month. Farmers are told that this is due to a "dangerous disease," but they are not provided with any supporting documents. All this has generated a lot of conspiracy theories, which the publication "Veter" described in detail - from the fact that a dangerous foot-and-mouth disease is spreading across Russia, to the fact that a lobby of agricultural holdings is behind what is happening. These theses are repeated by the pro-war public, including “military correspondents” - propagandists in their Telegram channels. How propagandists criticize the authorities for the crackdown on farmers and opaque decisions. The version of the benefits for agricultural holdings and local authorities. The author of the pro-war Telegram channel "Trinadtsatyy" in his posts on March 21 expressed distrust towards the Ministry of Agriculture, Rosselkhoznadzor, and governors, and also pointed out that, in his opinion, "the higher-ups don't give a damn about ordinary people." The mass slaughter is beneficial to large agricultural holdings, such as "Miratorg," and lying to the population about the true reasons for the slaughter is "making things worse," he believes. The author of "Boevoy rezerv" expressed the opinion that only local agricultural holdings and local officials, who are "clearly in cahoots" with them, will profit from the mass slaughter. "The disposal procedure causes outrage among local residents: the carcasses of slaughtered animals lie near houses for several days before they are burned. In the village of Kozikha, the extermination of households has left people without a livelihood," he said. Z-blogger Alexey Zhivov in his post on March 17 commented on Dmitry Peskov's statement that the mass slaughter of livestock is "not excesses at the local level" and that the entire activity, as Zhivov put it, of "local animal abusers" is supervised by the federal Ministry of Agriculture. "Then the version of reprisals against small producers is more fitting to the situation," said Zhivov. Criticism of officials who do not provide explanations. The Telegram channel "Boevoy rezerv" on March 17 posted a video in which, it is claimed, Ukrainian war participant Anton Dolenko from the village of Chernokurye, Novosibirsk region, announced the intention of local authorities to seize his livestock, which he purchased with payouts for his injury. According to Dolenko, he is currently undergoing rehabilitation. "My vaccinated animals were not even tested, so there is no confirmation that they are sick. I also have not seen the governor's decree. As I was told, it is secret. The disease itself is also secret," he said in the video. The actions of law enforcement officers in seizing livestock are unfounded, cruel, and lead to economic disaster, and under the guise of safe pasteurellosis, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease is hidden, believes the author of the Telegram channel "Trinadtsatyy." "People are furious because they are taking away their last belongings, explaining it with nonsense, and there is no real threat to humans officially (pasteurellosis is rarely dangerous). People are protesting: blocking roads with tractors, grandmothers stand "only over my dead body," OMON, fines. In the villages of Kozikha, Novoklyuchi, Novopichugovo - complete disaster, people are left without their livelihood. There hasn't been anything like this for half a century. Maybe enemies deliberately introduced the strain as biological weapons?" - believes the author of the Telegram channel "Trinadtsatyy" (spelling and punctuation preserved. - Ed.). Anastasia Kasherova, founder of the publication Daily Storm and former advisor to the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, also expressed indignation about the authorities' actions on March 19. In her opinion, the tragedy could have been avoided "if the authorities had treated people with respect." Policeman on duty at the entrance to the village of Novopichugovo, Novosibirsk region, March 17, 2026. Photo: Alexander Kryazhev / Sputnik / Imago Images / Scanpix / LETA. "I am from the village. From a place where a cow is a breadwinner. And how painful it is when your Yarka is killed before your eyes, without explanation. And they throw you 125 rubles per kilogram like a dog - "Here, serf, compensation." And in Novosibirsk, they showed the same brutish attitude towards people as towards animals. Why didn't anyone say, explain, elaborate? At the same time, people who demanded clarification of what was happening were fined," she writes. The Z-channel ZERGULIO is also actively covering the situation in the Novosibirsk region: in a post after March 9, he wrote that "officials do not show documents to people, do not name the disease, citing secrecy. What kind of secrecy is this? People are already gathering," he writes. Then ZERGULIO added that the whole situation reflects "chaos, negligence, and arrogance of officials": "How stupid do you have to be to come and take away people's hard-earned belongings, cows that feed the family, and "just forgot the documents [confirming the outbreak of the disease]." They just came, and without presenting any documents, citing secrecy, they take and destroy your livestock? Unbelievable, of course." In his opinion, the situation with the mass slaughter of livestock in the Novosibirsk region, Penza region, and other regions is "lawlessness and arbitrariness." Indignation over the detention of a war participant. Military man Ivan Oltrakovsky published a post on the morning of March 21 that the people of Kozikha "are under severe pressure." Then he posted several videos from the village, in which he spoke about how people are protecting their animals and how "inhumans in robes, supported by police," want to destroy all livestock. "I'm really ashamed of what's happening in the country. I didn't expect that I, a person who fought for our country, for our people, would go through such times. Have we really come to this? You must understand what kind of system this is, that it needs to be changed, otherwise we ourselves will end up as livestock," he said. As a result, he was detained by the police, and then he received a fine of four thousand rubles under the article on disobeying the police. Z-blogger "Trinadtsatyy" commented on Oltrakovsky's detention as follows: "Gentlemen police officers! Maybe stop doing nonsense?" asked the Z-blogger. There is also a supporter of the official version. The only Z-author who publicly supported the authorities is the military blogger-"foreign agent" Roman Alyokhin. He welcomes the intervention of the federal center and the start of payments to local residents, but questions why it was not done immediately. "The main question is: why did they delay? During hybrid wars, when internal stability in the country is much more important, this is simply unacceptable. And if they had immediately offered compensation not only for the cost of cows but also for lost profits, even without explaining the reasons, there would have been no rebellion, and citizens of Russia would not have had to be fined," he wrote. Alyokhin believes that what happened was not malicious intent ("reprisals against small producers"), but merely a consequence of the low professionalism of appointees (as he calls them, "outsiders") not connected with the region.