Protests outside the Kyiv City Administration, demands to disband the municipal security service, and announcements of plans to take legal action against the authorities — in less than two months, the conflict over the felling of trees in Teremky Park has taken on an unforeseeable scale. It all began with an attempt to cut down 662 trees without any consultation or public scrutiny, ahead of the laying of a backup heating pipeline.
EcoPolitics outlines the timeline of the dispute, the disregard for residents’ views and the violations committed by the authorities, on the basis of which the community intends to take legal action.
The first flare-up
At the end of July 2026, large-scale tree felling began in Teremky Park. In response to the residents’ justified outrage, on 31 July the Kyiv City Administration announced that it was constructing a backup heating supply line to the Teremky-1 and Teremky-2 housing estates.
And, of course, the removal of the greenery was justified on the grounds that the plants were located within the work area.
"According to the results of a professional survey, 662 trees need to be removed, 56 of which will be replanted, as well as 70 shrubs, 16 of which will also be replanted. All work will be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the law and in compliance with environmental protection standards," the Kyiv City State Administration stated.
They also promised to ‘fully landscape’ the area, which even then provoked a negative reaction from residents. Such statements seemed hypocritical, as DBN V.2.5-39:2008 prohibits the planting of trees within the heating network’s protection zone.
Public discontent gradually grew, with more and more residents turning up at the park to protest. This prevented the green space from being turned into a wasteland, and eventually led to physical ‘clashes’ with the police. On 5 August, one of the defenders of Teremky Park, Kateryna Chepura, reported that protesters had been forcibly removed from the park. This was carried out by “unknown individuals in black wearing police chevrons”.
Bypassing procedures
In an ideal world, such projects would require permits, approvals and even public hearings. However, the authorities managed to avoid all this ‘unnecessary bureaucracy’ thanks to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 393. The document authorised, on an experimental basis, the waiver of the requirement to obtain a number of permits, as well as land allocation, for the implementation of local sustainability plans. A written authorisation from the local administration for land use was sufficient.
This raised questions both about the Kyiv City State Administration’s actions and about the resolution as a whole.
"Now, under the guise of energy security, any private property developer can save money by laying utility lines to their housing estates right through parks or forests," — stressed the "Golka" civic initiative on 5 August.
However, there is a catch. According to paragraph 4 of the procedure for implementing the pilot project, the Resilience Plan for Kyiv was to be approved by the National Security and Defence Council. For weeks, ‘Holka’ tried to find out who had actually approved the Comprehensive Resilience Plan for Kyiv. A month later, the Kyiv City State Administration finally responded, and it turned out that the plan had been approved only by the City Council. Therefore, according to the activists, the administration had not even fulfilled the very requirements it had used to circumvent urban planning, land use and environmental protection legislation.
Furthermore, the construction project contravenes the Kyiv Master Plan and the detailed plan for the Teremky-3 area. On 14 September, the organisation announced that, due to the administration’s unlawful actions, Kyiv residents are preparing a lawsuit.
The story behind the routes and the claim to ‘openness’ towards the community
All local residents understand the importance of a stable heat supply, particularly when they think back to last winter. However, the question is how the capital’s authorities intend to tackle this problem.
Regarding the situation with the tree-lined strip in Teremky, as far back as 2023 the tender specifications stipulated that the main pipeline was to be installed along Teremkivska Street. However, as soon as the Cabinet of Ministers gave the go-ahead, officials at the municipal enterprise ‘Kyivteploenergo’ decided to take advantage of the situation.
On 10 August, the capital’s authorities met with the community and agreed to suspend the felling. The Kyiv City State Administration agreed to allow two weeks to find alternative routes, but stated that there was no other option. Other utilities — sewers, electricity cables and water mains — have already been laid along Teremkivska Street. The community never received any documents providing a technical justification for this change of route, only verbal assurances.
For a month and a half now, activists have been demanding documents from the Kyiv City State Administration that would confirm the legality of the felling. This could have been a tree-felling order, a decision by the Kyiv City Council authorising the laying of a heating network through the park, or an easement approved by the council granting ‘Kyivteploenergo’ the right to lay a pipe there.
On 31 August, representatives of the Kyiv City State Administration met with the public once again. Engineer Maksym Myatko from the National Union of Architects of Ukraine prepared three options for the route of the heating pipeline — along Teremkivska Street, along the bypass route (Hlushkova Street) and through the park area, but with a reduction in the number of trees that would need to be felled. The authorities rejected all of them.
Following public consultations, the Kyiv authorities have reportedly found an optimised route: according to this, only 160 trees are ‘in the way’ of the heating pipeline. Furthermore, they have promised to remove no more than ten of them.
Protests, rallies, the disbandment of the municipal guard
As early as 14 September, the contractors’ vehicles were spotted again in Teremky. Local residents began to block it. On 15 September, one of the activists, Natalia Chernyshova, reported that the municipal utility ‘Kyivteploenergo’ had filed a complaint with the police against her, Kateryna Chepura and others.
By the morning of 21 September, law enforcement officers had already been brought in to the site. Activists announced at the time that the police would be providing cover to allow the mass felling of trees to continue. Work began at the same time to fence off the park’s grounds.
Kyiv’s municipal security forces subsequently arrived to assist the police. Residents wanted to enter the site to stop the work; some lay down on the ground to prevent heavy machinery from passing through. It was these residents whom the capital’s security forces forcibly removed from the site.
The Kyiv City State Administration responded to the situation, stating that they had not resumed felling trees, but had only carried out earthworks – namely, digging a trench – and erecting a fence. On the second day, they also defended the actions of the municipal security service, stating that “Municipal Security staff were clearing the construction site to avoid any danger to people and to ensure that work could continue”.
However, the very next day, 22 September, one of the activists, Tatyana Troshkina, claimed that security guards had injured her arm whilst trying to break it.
On 23 September, residents of the capital had already taken to the streets for a peaceful protest outside the Kyiv City State Administration building.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko responded on 24 September. An internal investigation is to be carried out into the municipal security service.
"I have approached the law enforcement authorities — the police — to ask them to carry out a legal assessment of the events that took place on 22 September in Teremky. In particular, the actions of Municipal Security staff," wrote the mayor.
Meanwhile, following the clashes in Teremky, female members of the Kyiv City Council are calling for the disbandment of the municipal security force.
EcoPolitics will continue to monitor the situation.
