OTS, a television channel owned by the Novosibirsk regional government, has released a video featuring what it calls “grateful farmers” describing how they received compensation for livestock that was destroyed. The video is available on OTS’s VK page.
None of the people appearing in the video are identified by name. Only their villages are given: Kozikha, Novoklyuchi, Chernokurya, and Gnedyukhino — the same communities where residents staged the most active protests against the livestock seizures.
In the video, the “grateful farmers” say the seizures were carried out in full compliance with proper procedures, that compensation was deposited into their accounts the same evening they submitted the paperwork, and that assistance was provided in a timely manner.
Journalists from the Russian media outlet 7×7 — Horizontal Russia identified one of the participants as Aziza Sadykova, who as of February 2026 was serving as acting head of the Chernokurya territorial subdivision.
Svetlana Panina, a farmer from Novoklyuchi whose local official walked out rather than face her, said the two participants from her village were small-scale farmers who do not depend on their livestock for income: one is a schoolteacher, and the other kept only two sheep.
Pro-war bloggers also criticized the video, pointing out that the participants were not farmers who had lost livestock but rather an accountant and a maintenance worker employed by the local administration. “This isn’t just scraping the bottom of the media barrel. It shows that victims of abuse are being made to thank their abuser,” wrote propagandist Anastasia Kashevarova, adding that in her view “every step is wrong and comes across as mockery of the people.”
In early February, Novosibirsk regional authorities announced they had detected several cases of pasteurellosis, a bacterial infection, in cattle across two districts. Acting under a gubernatorial decree, officials imposed quarantines in certain communities and began confiscating livestock by force.
Farmers said authorities provided no documents when seizing the animals and could not give a coherent explanation for their actions. They also pointed to the low level of compensation they were eligible to receive for the lost livestock. What was happening in the Novosibirsk Region drew widespread attention beyond the region itself.
Experts and sources at several outlets, including the independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe, believe the livestock was most likely destroyed because of foot-and-mouth disease, and that authorities are trying to conceal the fact of an outbreak of the dangerous illness.
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