Prosecutors of the Lviv Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the field of defense of the Western region submitted an indictment to the court in January 2025 against the executive director, the forwarder, and the dispatcher of a local company specializing in waste removal in Lviv and the region. 

The investigation established that members of the criminal group set up the operation of a sorting station without the necessary permits. They carried out the transportation, storage, and accumulation of household waste on a plot of land belonging to the Lviv territorial community, which borders the territory of a military unit.

The illegal landfill operated from February 2024 to January 2025. During this time, the soils of these plots, including defense lands, were contaminated with zinc, lead, cadmium, phosphorus, ammonium, and iron. An environmental examination recorded exceedances of the maximum allowable concentrations of these hazardous substances, which altered the natural properties of the land and harmed the environment.

The total amount of damage caused to the environment exceeds 8 million hryvnias.

The actions of the director were qualified under part 3 of Article 27, part 3 of Article 28, part 2 of Article 239, part 2 of Article 364-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and those of his accomplices under part 3 of Article 28, part 2 of Article 239 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

For the committed crimes, the accused face up to 6 years of imprisonment with a possible three-year disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities. 

Prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit in court for the compensation of damages caused to the state.

The pre-trial investigation was conducted by investigators of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Lviv region, with operational support from the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine in the Lviv region.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.