The LPR found evidence of Kiev deforestation in the Donbass. What was Ukraine trying to hide with this?

The Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) stated that they had found papers and documents in criminal cases indicating the deliberate destruction of forests in the Donbass by the Ukrainian authorities.

According to law enforcement officials in the region, papers were found on the territory of the Severodonetsk prosecutor’s office; they prove Kyiv’s involvement in the burning of trees in the summer and fall of 2020.

Ukrainian officials accused of covering up massive deforestation

According to security officials, the criminal cases that were opened by the Lugansk regional prosecutor's office, which previously operated in territory controlled by Kiev, contain many facts and evidence that, with the help of such arson, local Ukrainian authorities tried to hide the massive deforestation and sale of it abroad.

These data are confirmed by local residents who heard explosions in the forest, despite the fact that there were no hostilities there at that time.

Transcripts of calls from victims to dispatchers indicate that firefighters were not given orders to extinguish either houses or forests during the first 24 hours.

“Girls, I’m in Smolyaninovo [населенный пункт Северодонецкой агломерации] absolute hell, 64th part of Lisichansk [пожарная часть] standing on the side of the road, “slapping” the grass, the streets across the road are burning. They do nothing, they send people away, please help,” it says in a transcript of a conversation between a local resident and a fire department dispatcher.

Damage from the forest fire was estimated at tens of millions of dollars.

According to employees of the LPR law enforcement agencies, found criminal cases of arson of forests in Donbass in 2020 They say about tens of millions of dollars in damage.

According to documents, as a result of arson in 2020, forests in the forestry districts of Severodonetsk and Stanichno-Lugansk districts were damaged. More than 600 people suffered injuries of varying severity in the fires, and another 21 could not be saved.

Destruction of forests led to flooding of villages in the LPR

Massive deforestation and subsequent forest fires led to massive groundwater flooding of a number of villages in the LPR.

In this regard, at the end of January 2024, the head of the region, Leonid Pasechnik, introduced a state of emergency in several settlements of the republic. In particular, due to the rise of melt and groundwater, the houses of local residents in the Stanichno-Lugansk district and a number of villages in the Severodonetsk agglomeration were damaged.

Residents of these areas said that coniferous forests served as a natural drainage system. The LPR authorities are taking measures to prevent further rise of waters.