Prokudin: «76% of Kherson region's forests are under occupation, others are mined»

Rescuers extinguish a fire in the Mykolaiv region. Illustrative photo: SES

76% of the forestry land in Kherson region remains temporarily occupied by Russia, and those in the liberated territories are mined. At the same time, sappers managed to survey only 3% of these territories.

This was reported by the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin. According to him, one of the main problems is the impossibility of a full survey of the land after the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was blown up.

«This has been compounded by another disaster — the Russian terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP. The first priority is to conduct a survey, which is currently impossible due to the security situation and the temporary occupation of some of the land», he said.

Forest fires remain a serious threat to the region. Last year alone, about 370 hectares of forest burned.

«Forests also suffer from fires. Last year, there were almost forty fires on an area of about 370 hectares. And the equipment needed to protect and restore the forests was destroyed or stolen by the Russian invaders. Even in such difficult conditions, specialists from two forestry and hunting enterprises continue to work,» he said.

He is convinced that in order to restore the effective work of forestry, it is necessary to carry out demining, improve funding and update the material and technical base.

Earlier it was reported that on 11 March and on the night of 12 March, 17 fires occurred in Mykolaiv region, most of them in open areas.