Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation together with the Department of Internal Security of the National Police exposed the “forest mafia” in Volyn. This is a criminal organization that in 2024 engaged in illegal logging on the territory of the “Kamin-Kashir Forestry” branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. About this informs DBR press office.
The organizer of the scheme turned out to be a local entrepreneur who involved 15 people in illegal activities. The group included six employees of the forestry farm, one employee of the Department of State Emergency Services in the Volyn region, as well as entrepreneurs and transporters.
Criminals cut down valuable tree species using the same logging ticket and transport documents several times. Wood, in particular pine, oak and hornbeam, was exported under the guise of firewood. To hide the crime, they uprooted and burned stumps, and covered the felling places with earth.
According to the investigation, from April to October 2024, more than 1,100 trees of various species were illegally cut down, resulting in damage to the environment in the amount of more than 6.4 million hryvnias.
After carrying out examinations and collecting evidence, the SBI detained 11 members of the organization and notified them of suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- h 2 Art. 255 (creation, management of a criminal organization and participation in it),
- h 5th century 27 (types of accomplices),
- h 4 Art. 28 (commitment of a crime by an organized group or criminal organization),
- h 4 Art. 246 (illegal logging).
These articles are punishable by up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. A petition has been submitted to the court to apply a preventive measure in the form of detention. Three more persons involved, who are hiding from the investigation, were charged in absentia – they were declared wanted. Currently, the issue of compensation for damages and seizure of the suspects’ property is being resolved. Procedural management in the case is carried out by the Volyn Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
