In Ukraine, during the 4 months of the war, 43% of fires were caused by the fault of irresponsible Ukrainians, who committed 30,205 arsons.
This is stated in the analysis of NASA satellite data in areas where hostilities do not take place, the "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group - UNCG" reports on Facebook.
56% of all fires occurred in the war zone during the full-scale war.
The UNCG emphasized that even during the war, Ukraine remained the absolute leader in Europe in terms of the number of fires of dry vegetation. The fire damaged a significant number of ecosystems, in particular the objects of the nature reserve fund.
Arson statistics:
- Vinnytsia region – 1,431 arsons;
- Volynsk - 1290;
- Dnipropetrovsk - 3527;
- Zhytomyrska - 3000;
- Zakarpattia – 1252;
- Ivano-Frankivsk - 1,251;
- Kirovohradsk - 1371;
- Lvivska – 4371;
- Odesa - 2618;
- Poltava - 1011;
- Rivne - 1967;
- Ternopil - 607;
- Khmelnytska – 1327;
- Cherkasy – 826;
- Chernivtsi - 876.
In March 2022, the Verkhovna Rada introduced amendments to the Criminal Code that increase liability for crimes against national security under martial law. Therefore, deliberate arson, in particular of dry vegetation, is included in the list of actions committed with the aim of weakening the state or aimed at destroying people or harming their health, because these actions pose an additional danger, distract rescuers, military and law enforcement officers from carrying out combat tasks and reduce defense capability of the country.
Arson is considered a criminal offense punishable by 10 to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
"But did the law enforcement officers (who were supposed to do it earlier) start to fight this violation?" Has even one offender been convicted? We are not aware of such cases," environmentalists write.
For each of the fires, there is detailed information about the exact burning coordinates, time and intensity. However, in the Lviv region, law enforcement agencies ignored almost 4,400 arsons, as shown by satellite data.
Fires of dry vegetation in Lviv Oblast in 1 month. Source: NASA.
"We have to admit that such a large number of fire statistics definitely comes from the inaction of law enforcement agencies, because, as far as we know, the law enforcement officers have never taken advantage of the new change to the legislation," the report says.
We will remind in Ukraine for 4 months of war shelling caused at least 37,867 large-scale fires in ecosystems and settlements, on an area of 100,662 hectares.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, in Zakarpattia plows destroyed hectares of wheat and pastures.
