The most costly offence this week was the dumping of rubbish on land without proper capping. Due to the scale of the landfill, the losses amounted to almost 180 million hryvnias. Illegal tree felling was smaller in scale but made up for it in volume.
EcoPolitics has compiled all the facts regarding crimes against nature that came to light between 1 and 7 August. This report draws on materials from open sources — publications by the State Bureau of Investigations, the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutors’ offices, and the State Environmental Inspectorate.
Environmental pollution
Enormous damage caused by breaches of waste disposal regulations. In the Donetsk region, various types of waste were dumped on a site of over 4,000 m² without a solid surface, which directly contravenes the Land Code and the Law ‘On Land Protection’. According to estimates by the State Environmental Inspectorate, the damage to the environment exceeds 179 million hryvnias. Environmental inspectors were involved in surveying the site as part of the criminal proceedings.
Source: State Environmental Inspectorate in Donetsk region
Forestry cases
More than 4,300 trees were cut down, inflicting nearly 34.3 million UAH in environmental damages. In Zhytomyr region, two individuals involved in large-scale illegal logging, timber sales, and money laundering were charged. The organizer was a resident of Radomyshl who hired workers and special equipment to destroy trees on forestry land and municipal property. A female entrepreneur was involved in laundering the illegal timber.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
Destruction of protected forests instead of their preservation. In Ternopil region, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and the National Police exposed an organized criminal group illegally cutting trees in the Medobory Nature Reserve. Six accomplices were charged. Preliminary information suggests the organizer was the head of one of the reserve's environmental protection units. The group also included his subordinate inspector and local residents. Environmental damages reached almost 6.2 million UAH. EcoPolitics provided more details on this case earlier.
He ordered the felling of nearly 250 trees in a nature reserve and later forged the local executive committee's landscaping decision to cover up his crime. In Ternopil region, the case against the head of one of the local communities, who organized illegal logging in the “Zahrebellya” landscape reserve, was brought to court. Despite the environmental ban on such actions, the official ordered municipal services to clear the area. Environmental damages exceed 8.2 million UAH.
She leased out 43 plots, knowing full well that they were covered in woodland and would be ‘cleared’. As a result of the actions of the head of one of the communities in the Volyn region, over 4,200 trees, worth almost 3 million hryvnias, were illegally felled. To cover this up, the official even issued a certificate intended to give the appearance that the work was lawful. The woman has been notified that she is under suspicion.
Source: Volyn Regional Prosecutor's Office
For half a year, the trees were felled away from the public eye, causing more than 3 million UAH in environmental damage. In Dnipropetrovsk region, an organized group of three “black loggers” will be prosecuted. From November 2025 to March 2026, they targeted sites far from roads, where, with no unnecessary witnesses or legal permits, they cut trees intending to sell them.
Source: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office
Meanwhile, in Mykolaiv region, a case was sent to court against seven accomplices who, during the same period as their Dnipro “colleagues”, destroyed protective plantings. They felled more than 90 trees, causing nearly 2.7 million UAH in damage to the state.
Source: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office
In a shelterbelt in Kamianske district, trees were destroyed in 2025, causing damages exceeding 1 million UAH. Prosecutors accused the land user, one of the local territorial communities, of failing to properly protect the green zone. The court sided with the prosecutors and ordered the territorial community to reimburse the damages.
In a similar case, the Potiivska community in Zhytomyr region was also ordered to reimburse nearly 2.6 million UAH. On collectively owned land, more than 120 oaks were felled. The community had the opportunity to compensate for the damages without going to court, but did not do so within the timeframe established by law.
Source: State Environmental Inspectorate of the Polissia District
Stryi City Council has already paid nearly 3 million UAH for failing to prevent illegal logging. Over 300 trees, including oaks and alders, were destroyed there.
In Lviv region, one of the forestry enterprises has compensated damages for illegal logging. Earlier, prosecutors proved in court that destruction of trees totaling more than 1.1 million UAH resulted from improper forest protection by the workers. In total, 134 trees were illegally felled within one of the forestry districts of the Dobrosyn-Maheriv territorial community.
Іnstead, traditionally, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” pays for the negligence of its officials. In various regions of the country, forests are illegally felled due to forest managers’ negligence in fulfilling their duties of territory protection. Thus, by court decision, the state enterprise is obliged to compensate UAH 3.7 million for the destruction of trees on more than 20 hectares of the Kremenets forestry in Ternopil region. For lack of proper oversight in Kyiv region, “Forests of Ukraine” has already compensated UAH 1.8 million. In that case, unknown persons felled 134 trees within the forest fund’s territory.
Water resources
They took water from the Saksahan River without a special permit. The former head of one of the municipal enterprises of Kamianske District was served a notice of suspicion for unauthorized extraction and use of water resources over several years. Due to the official’s negligence, the state incurred losses amounting to almost UAH 1.8 million.
Source: Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office
The Afrykanivske Reservoir was returned to state ownership. For a long time, a 130-hectare water body in Kharkiv region was used free of charge and without any permits for fishery purposes.
Source: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office
In one of the communities in Vinnytsia region, it was possible to recover 3 hectares of water fund land that had entered private ownership in 2021 for subsidiary farming purposes. It turned out this took place based on fictitious resolutions from one of the reorganized village councils.
The struggle for valuable land
Prosecutors continue to return valuable land to the state and communities through court proceedings. For example, in Chernihiv region, 321 hectares of forest that had previously been unlawfully seized by the Semenivka City Council were restored to the ownership of the regional council. Nearly 5 hectares of forest fund land ended up in communal ownership in Ternopil region. To correct this, prosecutors filed two lawsuits in court.
This fight also takes place around nature conservation sites. Here are several examples from the past week:
- In Cherkasy region, a plot of land with an area of 2.6 hectares belonging to the “Nyzhniosulskyi” national park was returned to state ownership.
- In Zhytomyr region, the court obliged the relevant authorities to define the boundaries of the “Zelena Laguna” landscape preserve, which covers almost 100 hectares. The defendants-the Broniki Village Council and SE “Zviahel Forest Enterprise APC”-must finally carry out the procedures necessary to protect the object, established back in 2020.
- In Zakarpattia, the prosecutor’s office through the court demands that 400 hectares of the “Bila Tysa River” receive protected area status. This land was reserved for the nature reserve fund as early as 1994.
An overview of last week's offenses that negatively impacted Ukraine's environment can be found at this link.
