Russia hits 90-year-old stud farm in Kharkiv Oblast twice in a week – photo
The Lozova Horse Farm in Kharkiv Oblast, where thoroughbred horses have been bred for 90 years, has been hit twice by Russian forces in just one week.
Source: Suspilne. Kharkiv, a local branch of Ukraine's national public broadcaster, citing Ihor Dubovyk, director of the Lozova Horse Farm
Details: No staff or animals were injured in the attacks, but more than 200 horses have been left without their winter food supply, director Ihor Dubovyk said.
The farm had never been attacked since the full-scale invasion began, although staff would regularly find Russian drone wreckage in nearby fields.
All that changed on the morning of 14 September, when Russian forces hit the farm's territory. Most of the horses, including mares with foals, were out in the pasture at the time of the strike, so they were unharmed.
"They hit the warehouse where the feed and other goods and materials were kept. It's a good thing we managed to get the equipment out in time," Dubovyk said.
"[The horses] were scared during the explosion – the herd bolted, but the handlers caught up with them, calmed them down and led them into the paddocks. The animals were stressed, but they're all fine now."
Farm staff are still tallying up the losses at the warehouse, where more than 300 tonnes of oats had been stored. Dubovyk estimates that the losses will run into millions of hryvnias.
On 18 September, Lozova Mayor Serhii Zelenskyi reported that Russia had struck the farm a second time. A large fire broke out at the site, but thanks to the prompt work of firefighters, it was quickly extinguished.
Zelenskyi said the animals were saved, the stable buildings were preserved, and the fire was put out before it could spread to nearby residential buildings.
"Hundreds of tonnes of hay and grain were destroyed in the attack. The scale of the damage is vast, because winter is coming and a large herd of horses has been left without the supplies they need," Zelenskyi added.
The Lozova Horse Farm, home to over 200 horses of various breeds, is a branch of the state-owned company Koniarstvo Ukrainy (Horse Breeding of Ukraine). It differs from other similar facilities in Ukraine in that its breeding programme is not limited to a single group of breeds.
"Our farm is the only one in Ukraine that works with a diverse range of horse breeds. Usually horse farms focus on one area – riding breeds, or trotting breeds, or draught breeds," Ihor Dubovyk explained.
"The Lozova Horse Farm is the only one that does all of this. We breed Ukrainian Riding Horses, Orlov Trotters, and also the Novoolexandrian Draught Horse, which was bred at the Novo-Oleksandrivka Horse Farm in Luhansk Oblast, which is currently occupied."
The farm has managed to adapt to the realities of full-scale war, using generators during winter power cuts, for example.
One of the biggest challenges, however, is a shortage of staff. The farm employs 40 people but needs over two dozen more.
"The lack of people is a major problem. Some have left, others are fighting. We don't have enough people, but we're getting on with the essential basic tasks of caring for the horses, breeding work, and testing the animals. It's hard, but we're managing," Dubovyk said.
He did not rule out that the farm might have to be evacuated to a safer location if the security situation gets worse.
"We already have two horse farms that have been evacuated – the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk farms. A similar plan has been drawn up for the Lozova farm too," Dubovyk said.
Background: In September 2025, seven horses were killed in a Russian drone strike on the paddocks of an equestrian club in Kyiv Oblast.
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