In March, two incidents of mass fish mortality were recorded in the Shveridiv Pond on the Kroshenka River, located within the Zhytomyr community. The State Environmental Inspection has identified the cause. As a result, the local municipal enterprise faces criminal liability.
This information was provided by the State Environmental Inspection of the Polissya District.
Facts of the deaths
As early as March 10, environmental inspectors recorded the death of 743 fish in the Shverydiv Pond. The estimated amount of damages exceeded 300,000 UAH.
However, by March 23, it became clear that the tragedy was not over—environmental inspectors counted over 1,600 more dead fish. The damages totaled 1.7 million hryvnias.
Source: polissyareg.dei.gov.ua
Water condition
Ecologists collected water samples and found that dissolved oxygen levels were within the normal range: 7.7–8.8 mg/dm3, while the standard is at least 6 mg/dm3.
However, there were issues with pollutants. In particular, ammonia content exceeded the norm by 1.6 times, iron – by 2.5 times, COD (chemical oxygen demand) – by 2.2 times, and BOD5 – by 2.8 times.
Source: polissyareg.dei.gov.ua
Source of pollution
The cause of the deadly pollution was water from a nameless stream. The flow enters the Kroshenka River, introducing toxins.
The inspectors at the environmental control post discovered how these chemicals entered the stream. During inspections, they repeatedly recorded leachate discharge from the municipal solid waste landfill, which is operated by the Municipal Enterprise “ATP 0628” of the Zhytomyr City Council.
During snowmelt, pollution intensity increased. In February and March of 2026, environmental inspectors uncovered four cases of toxic discharges into the Kroshenka River. The exceedances were enormous: BOD₅ – up to 15 times, COD – up to 9 times, ammonia – up to 5 times, iron – up to 6 times.
Legal responsibility
Previously, the court had already ordered ATP 0628 to stop polluting the stream and to take measures to prevent drainage water from entering it. As environmental inspectors discovered, as of March 11, no action had been taken.
Therefore, the State Environmental Inspectorate forwarded all collected materials to the Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor’s Office. There, a legal assessment must be made as to whether to open a criminal case for violation of environmental protection legislation.
“The gathered materials concerning the mass death of fish and the failure to comply with court decisions have been officially forwarded to the Zhytomyr Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The Inspectorate sees evidence of a crime in the actions of the officials of the Municipal Enterprise ‘ATP 0628’ of the Zhytomyr City Council under Part 2, Article 242 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” emphasized Yevhenii Medvedovskyi, Head of the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Polissia District.
This concerns violations of water protection regulations that resulted in mass death of animals or plants.
EcoPolitic previously reported that a fish die-off was also recorded in Ternopil region. There, local environmentalists blame wastewater and the lack of treatment facilities for the incident.
