EcoPolitics has compiled for its readers the top 8 large-scale cases of environmental damage reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the press services of prosecutors, and the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine and its units during the week of May 24-30.
1. According to the SBI, two organized criminal groups of foresters will be brought to trial at once – indictments against them have already been sent to court. Earlier, EcoPolitics told about these defendants. The first group included an assistant forester and two forestry engineers. Under the guise of deadwood and damaged trees, they planned to cut down high-end business timber, so they set aside 325 perfectly healthy pine trees for felling.
The environmental damage from cutting down these trees would have amounted to more than UAH 6.5 million. However, they were prevented from cutting down the trees by SBI employees: the day after receiving the felling tickets, the offenders were exposed. Now they face up to 7 years in prison.
Photo: dbr.gov.ua.
The second criminal group was headed by the head of the Brusturyansky forestry. He involved 3 subordinates in illegal activities – two forest masters and a leading forestry engineer.
The forest masters, on the illegal instructions of their superior, allocated the following 4 areas for thinning logging, which were not supposed to be logged. And the leading engineer illegally issued a logging ticket for these works.
Photo: dbr.gov.ua.
Thus, the defendants illegally cut down 1,369 spruce and beech trees. By their actions, they caused damage to the environment worth more than UAH 12 million. Now they face a sentence of imprisonment for up to 10 years.
2. The Economic Court of Kyiv Region ruled that the Baryshivka Village Council must pay almost UAH 3.6 million due to violations found during an inspection by the State Environmental Inspectorate. In particular, due to the lack of places and facilities for waste sorting, treatment, recycling and disposal, failure to exercise proper control over safe waste management on the territory of the village council and conducting activities without permits.
3. One of the forestry enterprises in Lviv region has to compensate the local community for more than UAH 1 million in damages. Foresters allowed illegal unauthorized felling of trees by unidentified persons on the territory of the nature reserve fund – the Pisky tract.
4. A group of “black loggers” was exposed in Kharkiv region. It was organized by a 46-year-old resident of Maksymivka village, Bohodukhiv district, to start his own “business” selling firewood for heating. He involved two acquaintances, men aged 31 and 35, in the illegal activity.
Photo: khar.gp.gov.ua.
Since May 2024, the suspects have been using chainsaws to cut down damp and dead trees in forest protection plantations located in the Bohodukhiv district. The resulting wood was immediately delivered to buyers, and the “income” was divided among themselves.
In total, the offenders managed to cut down almost 200 trees of various species. The total amount of damage caused almost reached UAH 1.6 million.
Photo: khar.gp.gov.ua.
The men will be tried in the Bohodukhiv District Court of Kharkiv. They face 5 to 7 years in prison.
5. The activities of another criminal group engaged in illegal felling of trees in the protective forest plantations of the Bakhmach community of Nizhyn district were stopped by law enforcement officers in Chernihiv region. The criminal scheme was organized by a resident of Bakhmach. He involved three local residents as accomplices.
Photo: chrg.gp.gov.ua.
The men were systematically illegally cutting down trees in field protection forest belts and along railroad tracks. The “dealers” sold the illegally harvested wood to citizens.
Photo: chrg.gp.gov.ua.
Photo: chrg.gp.gov.ua.
They managed to illegally cut down more than five hundred trees, causing UAH 3.6 million in damage to the environment.
6. In Ivano-Frankivsk region, environmental inspectors calculated more than UAH 1.3 million in damages for the illegal felling of 145 trees within the village of Bohrivka, Solotvyno village council, Ivano-Frankivsk district. They reported the crime to the police and the prosecutor's office.
7. Inspectors of the Central District calculated damages in the amount of over UAH 2.3 million for cutting down 20 damp-growing trees to the point of stopping growth on the territory of the botanical natural monument of local importance “Hlibov Park (Veselopodilskyi Park)” in the territory of Semenivka village council of Poltava region.
8. The environmental inspectors also filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court in Poltava Oblast to compensate for almost UAH 2 million in damages caused to the environment by the Tekhkomunbud utility company as a result of unauthorized use of groundwater without a special permit.
Read about a 7-person criminal organization that illegally mined amber in Rivne region for 3 years in our previous digest.
