The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has instructed the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine to exclude the land plots in the Markhaliv forest from the Emerald Network lists, as they are to be used for the construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
This was stated by the head of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center (KECC), Volodymyr Boreiko, on Facebook.
As proof, he published a photo of two documents: the protocol of the meeting at the Ministry of Environment, which was held by Deputy Minister Victoriia Kyreieva, and a list of tasks that have not been performed by the Ministry of Environment.
The first document is dated March 10 this year. It is stated in Paragraph №3 "to report on the CMU's instruction to exclude the site from the Emerald Network”. The deadline is March 14, 2025. However, it should be mentioned that this protocol does not specify which site.
Source: facebook.com/kekz.ua.
It is stated in the second document that the Ministry of Environment did not fulfill the order of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, which was given on February 18 this year. The content of the order was as follows: “The Ministry of Environmental Protection, together with the Ministry of Veterans, should take measures to resolve the issue of excluding the land plots in the Markhaliv forest from the Emerald Network lists, as they are to be used for the construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery. The results should be later reported to the Cabinet of Ministers.”
Source: facebook.com/kekz.ua.
Volodymyr Boreiko reminded that the international Emerald Network is a weighty argument that allows the KECC and the “Markhalivka. Support” NGO to win courts against the Cabinet of Ministers and the Kyiv Regional State Administration in defense of the Markhaliv forest.
“As we can see, Shmyhal decided to act in a "stalinist" manner, according to the principle "no man, no problem" or "no law, no justice". In a fair fight in court, the authorities cannot defeat the defenders of the Markhaliv forest, so they decided to falsify the case,” the environmentalist says.
As a reminder, on March 18, EcoPolitic reported on the suspicion of environmental activists that the Ministry of Ecology wants to remove the Markhaliv forest from the Emerald Network. The activists also exposed the Ministry of Environment for lying to Europe about logging in this forest.
This was preceded by three lawsuits won by environmental activists and the public against the Cabinet of Ministers and the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. Here is the timeline:
- On September 25, 2024, the Kyiv District Administrative Court declared the Ukrainian government's Resolution No. 225 illegal, which allowed massive logging of the Markhaliv forest near Kyiv for a Military Memorial Cemetery.
- On January 16 of this year, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal also confirmed the illegality of the resolution. In early February, we reported that despite the court's ban, logging continued in the Markhaliv forest.
- On March 6, EcoPolitic informed that the Kyiv District Administrative Court had declared the order of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration to allocate the territory of the Markhalivskyi Forest for the National Military Memorial Cemetery illegal. This was the third trial that ended in favor of the forest's defenders.
