Russia's Siberian Novosibirsk region has declared a state of emergency to combat a cattle disease outbreak, with officials identifying five outbreaks of pasteurellosis and 42 cases of rabies in the area where farm animals are being removed. Russian authorities have declared large areas of Siberia under quarantine and forcibly culled large numbers of cattle, pigs, and sheep. The emergency declaration allows farmers to seek compensation for culled animals, and local officials said the first payments were being processed.
Authorities have conducted raids on cattle farms and individual family livestock shelters, during which all animals were taken away, sometimes with police assistance. Cattle have been slaughtered even when owners were absent, and people resisting the slaughter of their cattle have been detained without being presented with any documents justifying the killing of the animals.
Disease containment methods have involved mass burning of animals, with media reports and social media posts showing thousands of cows and other cattle being burned to contain the diseases. Russian media has also reported cases where cattle have been burned alive.
The cattle seizures mainly affected small farms, while larger agricultural enterprises were spared. Small farmers have protested for weeks as their livelihoods are threatened by forced culling.
The emergency allows farmers to seek compensation for culled animals, and local officials said the first payments were being processed. The agriculture ministry did not respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Anger is growing among farmers in several Russian regions who have had their livestock confiscated and slaughtered against their will.
Villagers have been confronting police and officials in an attempt to resist the seizure of their animals. Several people were briefly detained, but no major crackdown on protesters has been reported.
Russian media reported that the reason for the cattle slaughter is either pasteurella bacteria or rabies, with rabies vaccination being mandatory in Russia. People have not believed these explanations and suspect the real reason is foot-and-mouth disease.
The Russian agriculture watchdog blamed the scale of the outbreak on extreme winter cold in Siberia, which weakened the animals' immunity.
Several other Siberian regions reported smaller outbreaks or said they were on alert.
Some of the families who lost their cattle are part of Russia's so-called 'new elite'—men participating in the war in Ukraine or their relatives.
According to Delovoi Kvartal, the spread of the disease has now been limited and stopped in the Novosibirsk region.
The exact number of cattle culled or affected by the forced slaughter has not been confirmed. Specific compensation amounts being offered to farmers for their culled animals remain undisclosed. How many people have been detained in total during the protests and resistance is also unknown.
Uncertainties about disease verification and regional extent further cloud the situation, with no independent confirmation of whether pasteurellosis, rabies, or foot-and-mouth disease is the primary cause.