The French public broadcaster Radio France Internationale has published its own report on the controversy surrounding the construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery (NMM) on the grounds of the Emerald Network site—the Marhalivsky Forest near Kyiv.
The article was published on RFI’s official website, which is viewed by millions of visitors every week.
The report is titled “An Illegal Military Cemetery Dividing the Country.” The journalists noted that the project, conceived as a “Ukrainian Arlington,” has become a source of deep conflict between the public and the government. They gathered information on existing court rulings regarding the NMC, as well as testimonies from local residents, journalists, and scholars. The Ministry of Veterans Affairs and cemetery management did not respond to RFI’s requests for interviews.
The authors of the report emphasize that despite the Ukrainian Supreme Court’s ruling declaring the construction illegal, “the authorities continue to implement the project and accuse its critics of spreading Russian propaganda and dividing society.”
Local residents and environmentalists firmly opposed
Ukrainian journalist and local resident Yulia Senyk, who covers this issue, told RFI journalists about threats and pressure following the release of her investigation: anonymous calls, messages in Russian, and smear campaigns on Telegram. She also suspects a possible assassination attempt due to a strange incident involving the wheel of her car.
Environmentalists and residents who oppose the project stress that the Markhalivskyi Forest, where the cemetery is being built and burials are already taking place, “has long been” a flood-prone area and is part of the Emerald Network of specially protected sites under the Bern Convention, which Ukraine ratified thirty years ago.
Photo: Protest by local residents against the destruction of Markhalivskyi Forest. Source: facebook.com/kekz.ua.
Hydrologist Serhiy Shevchuk confirmed the community’s concerns: due to swampy soil and constant water accumulation, toxic substances from the burials may spread within the cemetery and to nearby settlements.
Activists emphasize that they “are not fighting against the military or the state, but against lawlessness.”
Photo: facebook.com/danilchukelena
Numerous court decisions and the position of officials
The authors of the article noted that Ukrainian courts had ruled the decision to build the cemetery illegal on three occasions, and that the Supreme Court had definitively confirmed the project’s illegality in January 2026; however, the authorities continued with the construction and burials.
For its part, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs accused critics of the cemetery of spreading disinformation, manipulation, and “Russian propaganda,” which allegedly divides society. On April 30, the ministry announced that parliament had passed Law No. 4869-IX in its second reading, “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Burial Sites for Persons Who Defended the Independence, Sovereignty, and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine.”
According to the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center, this is a way to circumvent the decision of the highest court and allow construction in protected areas.
Suspicions of corruption
The authors of the material also draw attention to possible corruption risks: the budget for the National Military Memorial Cemetery (NMMC) project is estimated at around 10 billion UAH, and dozens of hectares of forest have already been logged under unclear circumstances.
“According to our data, in this protected forest over 2 years, almost 70 ha out of 265 ha have already been cut down. And where did this timber go? This forest, with its pines and century-old oaks, was transported in grain trucks and covered with tarpaulins,” a journalist told RFI, claiming to have video evidence and lamenting that complaints filed with the police have so far remained unanswered.
Photo: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557935170719.
EcoPolitic has been following this case for a long time. Recall that in March 2025 EcoPolitica reported on eco-activists’ suspicions that the Ministry of Environmental Protection wants to remove the Markhalivskyi Forest from the Emerald Network. Also, activists caught the Ministry deceiving Europe about logging in this forested area.
Later, the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center accused the Cabinet of Ministers of falsifications to remove the Markhalivskyi Forest from the Emerald Network.
This was preceded by three court victories by eco-activists and the public against the Cabinet of Ministers and the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. Here is a timeline:
- On September 25, 2024, the Kyiv District Administrative Court ruled the Ukrainian government’s resolution No. 225, which permitted mass logging of Markhalivskyi Forest near Kyiv for the military memorial cemetery, illegal.
- On January 16 this year, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal also confirmed the unlawfulness of the mentioned resolution. At the beginning of February, we reported that despite the court’s ban, logging continued in the Markhalivskyi Forest.
- On March 6, EcoPolityka reported that the Kyiv District Administrative Court ruled the order of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration allocating the territory of the Markhalivskyi Forest for the National Military Memorial Cemetery to be illegal. This was already the third court hearing that ended in favor of the forest defenders.
At the end of April 2025, eco-activists warned that the Ministry of Veterans Affairs prepared a draft of a new resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding works on the territory of the Markhalivskyi Forest, similar to the previously annulled Resolution No. 225.
In mid-May of the same year, we reported that the Bureau of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention criticized the Ukrainian authorities’ decision to allocate part of the Emerald Network territory for the construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
