There are various ways to harm Ukraine’s natural environment — exceeding the boundaries of a quarry’s mining concession, felling trees without permission, or ignoring faults in wastewater treatment facilities. And the individuals featured in today’s review have resorted to all of them.
EcoPolitic has compiled information on environmental crimes committed between 27 June and 3 July. This report is based on data from the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutors’ offices, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the State Environmental Inspectorate.
Illegal exploitation of mineral resources
Exceeding the limits of a special permit — causing losses to the state amounting to 2.5 billion hryvnias. Prosecutors in Zhytomyr region have brought charges before the court against the director of a mining company that had been illegally extracting sand for years. This involves over 113,000 cubic metres of sand extracted from land outside the boundaries of the mining concession and without a special permit for subsoil use. The man is accused of organising this large-scale scheme. He is currently in custody, with the option to post bail of 10 million hryvnias.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
A mining quarry on forest fund land. Environmental prosecutors in Zakarpattia are investigating the grounds for andesite extraction near Uzhhorod, as well as the laying of a 3.5 km power line through the forest to the production site. It is known that mining operations were conducted without an environmental impact assessment, and the 59 ha of damaged land are designated for recreational and health purposes. Thus, extraction led to deforestation and the destruction of the local ecosystem. Inspections have recently been carried out on the deposit site. The full circumstances and all parties involved are being established.
Source: Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office
Sand was extracted on municipal land under the guise of legal economic activity. A resident of Kryvyi Rih organized an illegal mineral extraction scheme. From 2025 to May 2026, he managed to cause state losses of UAH 3.5 million. The stolen minerals were sold under documents purporting the product to be legally acquired. Three other people were also involved in the scheme. All of them have been notified of suspicion of illegal extraction of minerals on a large scale in prior collusion.
Source: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office
Passing off minerals as industrial waste. Thanks to an ingenious manipulation by the manager of one of the manufacturing divisions of a state-owned enterprise in Zhytomyr region, the state suffered losses of UAH 2.1 million. The official sold gabbro blocks at the price of cheaper rubble stone. The man has been notified of suspicion of embezzling property belonging to others. Investigators are searching for other individuals involved in the scheme.
Source: Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor's Office
Forest affairs
Illegal logging was organised in the protected parks of Lviv. Two directors of PZF sites have been notified of suspicion. Their crimes collectively caused environmental damage amounting to nearly 8 million UAH. The officials acted somewhat differently: both lacked permits for logging, although the first involved a private entrepreneur in the offence, while the second ordered subordinate employees to destroy the trees.
Source: Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office
Vinnytsia regional branch of "Ukrzaliznytsia" has compensated 3 million UAH in environmental damages. As a permanent forest user, the company failed to provide proper protection for the green spaces under its control. As a result, over 200 oak trees were felled by unknown individuals, with some being over 100 years old. The court sided with prosecutors and recovered the funds from Ukrzaliznytsia.
Seven accomplices were destroying trees in forest shelterbelts of Mykolaiv region. From November 2025 through March 2026, they managed to illegally cut down more than 90 trees, causing environmental harm estimated at nearly 2.7 million UAH. The “black” loggers have been served with suspicion notices.
Source: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office
Improper Use of Valuable Land
There is an investigation into illegal construction involving the son of a notorious former head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional MSEC. In 2020, the relative of a figure at the center of a corruption scandal purchased a former disco club building in the central park of Khmelnytskyi – a site recognized as a garden and park art monument. The new owners only had the right to reconstruct the existing building, but instead, construction of a hotel and restaurant complex began there. The work even extended beyond the allocated plot. The facility has now been seized, and construction was halted. The case features three articles of the criminal code at once: unauthorized construction, abuse of power with grave consequences, and document forgery.
The economic use of the Zelenodolsk Reservoir without any legal grounds continues. In Dnipropetrovsk region, prosecutors are seeking through the court the return of over 1,600 hectares of the water fund to the state. Since 2022, without lease agreements, a fishing enterprise has been using the water resource for its own purposes.
A landscape reserve is being leased by farmers. Also in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the public prosecutor’s office has applied to the court to have 102 hectares of land within the ‘Byk River Valley’ landscape reserve returned to municipal ownership. It transpired that the nature conservation land was being leased by a farming enterprise, which was using the area for commercial agricultural production. This could have harmed the unique steppe ecosystems, which are home to rare plant species.
Prosecutors are also working to establish the boundaries of nature reserve fund objects and to formalize the necessary documentation. Without these bureaucratic procedures, the land is at risk of alienation or improper use. Here are some examples from this week:
- In Poltava region, the boundaries of the “Voskobiinytskyi” and “Velychkivskyi” botanical reserves, totaling over 100 ha, have finally been determined. These reserves were established back in 1999, but all this time their boundaries have neither been set nor fixed on the ground. As a result, prosecutors had to file a lawsuit against the Shyshatska settlement council.
- In Cherkasy region, there is an ongoing court case regarding the establishment of the boundaries of the “Stetsivskyi” hydrological reserve, covering 50 ha. The reason is the inaction of one of the local councils, which for years ignored this issue.
There are also periodic cases about returning land in the state water fund under state hydraulic structures to government control. For instance, in Cherkasy region alone there are court cases concerning four sites with a total area of 2,600 ha and a value of 175 million UAH. In Chernivtsi region, prosecutors applied to the court to revoke communal ownership rights for water fund plots covering over 115 ha. State hydraulic structures are also located there, and the water body itself is part of the Prut river system.
Environmental pollution
In Kharkiv region, untreated sewage was discharged into the river and surrounding land for ten months. The main engineer of one of the municipal enterprises is suspected of the crime. The prosecutor’s office believes that he failed to ensure the proper operation of the treatment facilities. Nearly 95,000 cubic meters of wastewater in total entered the environment, polluting more than 1,200 m² of territory. Eventually, this toxic mixture seeped naturally into the Vilkhuvatka River.
Source: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office
In Kyiv, the head of the enterprise that poisoned the city with sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions will stand trial. The concentration of these substances exceeded the standard by dozens of times. Such toxic impact on the environment lasted for two months, endangering both the population and nature. The damages amounted to 2.7 million UAH.
Source: Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office
Crimes related to animals
Засновнику Ялta Zoo "Kazka" and Lion Park "Taigan" has been notified in absentia of suspicion of illegally transferring animals. In "collaboration" with the occupation-appointed director of "Askania-Nova", the businessman removed ten Chapman's zebras and three cows of a unique Ukrainian breed from the reserve. The losses to the reserve are estimated at over UAH 67.3 million.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
Extorted money from a veterinary clinic after the death of an animal. In Chernivtsi region, a district official from the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection and his accomplice will be tried. After the death of a woman's pet at a veterinary facility, he began to threaten the clinic owner with inspections, license revocation, and closure. He demanded a bribe to stop the pressure. The accused were caught receiving the bribe in one of Chernivtsi's coffee shops.
You can learn about what actions by Ukrainian citizens and officials harmed the environment last week in the previous digest.
