The percentage of unsolved cases of illegal deforestation of Ukrainian forests has been steadily increasing over the past 3 years.
These are the results of their own analysis of statistical data, cited by journalists of Free Radio.
To track the dynamics, they analyzed law enforcement reports for 2022-2024 and found that the total number of open cases of illegal deforestation remains approximately the same. However, the journalists noted a certain trend in the number of unsolved cases: their share of the total number of proceedings is increasing every year.
Source: “Free Radio”.
According to the report of the Prosecutor General's Office, in January-February 2025, Ukrainian law enforcement officers registered 680 criminal offenses for illegal logging or illegal transportation, storage, or sale of forests (Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). In 147 of them, the suspects were served with notices of suspicion.
85 proceedings were sent to court, all of them with indictments. Court decisions were announced in less than one tenth of all registered criminal violations – 53 cases.
Recently, in its weekly digest, EcoPolitic reported on the “forest mafia” exposed by the State Bureau of Investigation together with the police, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Security Department of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. The criminals operated on the territory of the Kamen-Kashyr Forestry branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. During 2024, they cut down the most valuable tree species on the territory of the forestry.
A little earlier, we told you about an organized criminal group that illegally cut down forests on the territory of the Brusturyansky forestry and hunting enterprise in Zakarpattia region. The group was organized by the head of the Brusturyansky forestry. He involved 3 subordinates in illegal activities – two forest masters and a leading engineer of the forestry.
