Activists win third court case in defense of Markhalivskyi forest

Activists win third court case in defense of Markhalivskyi forest facebook.com/kekz.ua
Hanna Velyka

Prior to that, two courts had declared illegal the government's resolution authorizing logging in the area

The Kyiv District Administrative Court has declared illegal the order of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration to allocate the territory of the Markhaliv Forest for the National Military Memorial Cemetery.

This was reported by Volodymyr Boreiko, director of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center. Specialists of this public organization are working on this case.

He says that the court fully supported the claim of their colleagues from the NGO “Markhalivka. Support”. Therefore, the order of the Kyiv Regional Administrative Court No. 275 of 03/14/2024 was declared illegal.

Boreiko emphasized that this is the third court case won by the defenders of the Markhalivka forest. He believes that the aforementioned order of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration and the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 225 “Some issues of removing trees, shrubs, lawns and flower beds during preparatory and/or construction work and operation of the National Military Memorial Cemetery” grossly violate not only a number of laws of Ukraine, but also the international Berne Convention, ratified by Ukraine.

facebook.com/kekz.ua

Source: facebook.com/kekz.ua.

The environmentalist blames the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the former Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets for the preparation of the illegal order of the KOVA and the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution on the selection of a site for the military cemetery, who, according to the environmentalist, misled the government.

This story began in late July 2024. Then activists of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center sued the government over what they considered to be illegal Resolution 225, which allows the demolition of trees to build a military memorial cemetery.

EcoPolitic also wrote that the KECC accused officials of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine of trying to destroy 270 hectares of the Markhaliv forest in order to sell the wood and make a profit of UAH 80 million.

On September 25, 2024, the Kyiv District Administrative Court declared illegal the Ukrainian government's Resolution No. 225, 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, felling in the Markhalivskyi forest continues.

Related
A former district administrator from Zakarpattia ‘forgot’ to declare houses, businesses and cars worth nearly 10 million hryvnias
A former district administrator from Zakarpattia ‘forgot’ to declare houses, businesses and cars worth nearly 10 million hryvnias

We’re talking about a car repair workshop, a café and even a house built right on the forestry commission’s land

Dead souls in the forestry sector: law enforcement officers have uncovered hundreds of fictitious employees
Dead souls in the forestry sector: law enforcement officers have uncovered hundreds of fictitious employees

According to sources, the State Bureau of Investigation is continuing its work to document the crimes

Wind turbines are being installed on the Runa mountain pasture in the Carpathians, despite promises from the Ministry of Economy — activists
Wind turbines are being installed on the Runa mountain pasture in the Carpathians, despite promises from the Ministry of Economy — activists

The destruction of high-altitude meadows continues, and some of the sites where rare plants used to grow have already been destroyed

Ghost companies ‘carry out’ contracts worth billions of hryvnias for ‘Forests of Ukraine’ – auditors
Ghost companies ‘carry out’ contracts worth billions of hryvnias for ‘Forests of Ukraine’ – auditors

Some companies have allegedly planted millions of trees without having a single employee