This year, forest fires in Ukraine covered an area of approximately 5,500 hectares. These figures are more than four times lower than in 2024, when forests burned over an area of almost 24,000 hectares, with an average fire covering 12 hectares compared to 4.5 hectares in 2025.
According to data released by the State Forestry Agency, the average area of a single fire decreased by more than 2.5 times. However, these statistics only take into account forests under the jurisdiction of the State Forestry Agency.
The weather was just as hot and dry, with gusty winds in the regions. For example, in the EU, 2025 was the worst year in 20 years, with over 1 million hectares of forest burned. Even considering that the total area of the EU member states is seven times larger than Ukraine, the difference is striking. Moreover, it is in Ukraine's favor. The State Forestry Agency attributes this to good protection of forest areas.
Statistics by region and causes of fires
The top five regions in terms of fire area in 2025 account for 78% of all fires. These are the following regions:
- Donetsk – 1,988.7 ha;
- Kharkiv – 1,943.9 ha;
- Dnipropetrovsk – 116.9 ha;
- Kyiv – 100.5 ha;
- Chernihiv – 68.8 ha.
This clearly confirms the main cause of forest fires – military operations and contamination with explosive objects. According to statistics from the State Forestry Agency, this was the cause of 38% of this year's forest fires.
Other causes are also man-made. These include grass burning, careless handling of fire, and arson.
Fire prevention
The State Forestry Service notes that it has a number of preventive tools to prevent fires from occurring or spreading. According to the head of the institution, Viktor Smali, these are:
- the automated system "Fires", which operates based on satellite data and helps forecast and analyze the situation;
- a monitoring system: there is a network of fire observation towers in the forests, most of which are equipped with video surveillance systems;
- upgrading the fleet of specialized firefighting equipment;
- prevention measures, in particular, patrols and the arrangement of mineralized strips-this year, foresters report having created 38,500 km of new ones.
EcoPolitic previously reported that due to hostilities, the area of Ukraine's forest resources decreased by 20%. Almost 3 million ha of forest stands have suffered damage of various degrees.
