Russians destroyed more than 60 thousand hectares of Ukrainian forests worth over ₴14 billion

Burned trees in Halytsyniv. Photo: Halytsyniv Fire Protection Detachment

During the full-scale invasion by the Russians, more than 60 thousand hectares of Ukrainian forests were destroyed, worth over 14 billion hryvnias.

As NGL.media reports, according to the estimates of the State Forest Agency, almost 30% of all forests in Ukraine have been damaged due to the war.

Analysis of satellite images shows that during the two years of the war, the Russians completely destroyed over 60 thousand hectares of forests in the occupied territories — mostly in areas where there was previously little forest.

According to a conservative estimate, the total value of the lost forest exceeds 14 billion hryvnias, which includes only direct losses, i.e. the value of timber that could be obtained from these over 60 thousand hectares. These losses do not take into account the environmental consequences, the elimination of which can be much more expensive.

It is also reported that at the end of December last year, the Russian propagandist-«war correspondent» Mikhail Andronik published a video of the work of a military mobile sawmill in his telegram channel.

Journalists, with the help of experts from the NGO «Forest Initiatives and Society», managed to identify the location of the mobile sawmill — it is the territory of the «Severodenky Forest Hunting Farm». A part of the felled trees is apparently being used by the Russians for the construction of bunkers and other defensive fortifications. However, part of this timber is openly put up for sale by the occupied forestry enterprises.

«Until 2022, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Finland, and Germany were the largest buyers of Russian timber. After the Russians invaded Ukraine, EU countries practically banned the import of Russian timber, which led to a 35% drop in Russian timber exports. The Russians themselves explained this decline as an «internal decision unrelated to EU actions». Currently, the main buyers are Turkey, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, South Korea, and China,» the message reads.

Recall that as of March 2024, nearly 20 hectares of forests in Mykolaiv Oblast need complete restoration after fires caused by Russian shelling.

Earlier, NikVesti wrote about how the war is destroying the ecology of the south. The main problem of the environmental consequences of the war lies in their long-term and global nature. Therefore, finding solutions to overcome them is becoming more complicated, but we need to start looking for solutions now.