Prosecutors of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office have sent an indictment to the court regarding the former director of a branch of the state forestry enterprise, involved in organizing illegal logging. He is the fifth suspect in the criminal proceedings concerning the destruction of over 9,500 trees. The preliminary amount of damage caused to the environment by their actions exceeds 42 million UAH.

According to the investigation, from September 2023 to January 2024, the official unjustifiably issued logging tickets. This allowed him to organize illegal logging of reformation in age-diverse and mixed plantations, which contradicts the requirements of forestry legislation.

As a result of such illegal actions, at least 2,711 trees were destroyed. This concerns the illegal logging of trees of the following species: pine, oak, hornbeam, linden, aspen, cherry, birch, and spruce. The total amount of damages caused by the actions of the director amounts to nearly 10 million UAH.

Within the framework of the proceedings, prosecutors ensured the inspection of the sites, the seizure of permitting documents, the analysis of the grounds for issuing logging tickets, and the confirmation of their unjustifiability.

It is worth noting that in July 2025, prosecutors of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office reported suspicions against four officials of the forestry. The fifth accomplice was informed of the suspicion in August 2025. The cases of two accomplices were already sent to court in November 2025, and in December 2025, the case of the third and the fourth accomplices was sent to court.

All five are charged with exceeding official powers and illegal logging that caused severe consequences (part 3 of article 365, part 4 of article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The pre-trial investigation was conducted by the Territorial Administration of the State Bureau of Investigation located in Lviv.

Note: according to article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in the manner prescribed by law and confirmed by a guilty verdict of the court.