In 2024, law enforcement registered around 30,000 criminal offenses related to illegal logging

Law enforcement agencies have registered about 30,000 criminal proceedings related to illegal logging in 2024. Over 14,000 of these cases have been submitted to the courts for consideration. However, inspections have been prohibited since russia’s full-scale invasion, which negatively impacts the documentation of illegal logging activities.

Oleh Storchous, a lawyer and forestry legislation expert, discussed this issue at the Media Center Ukraine. 

“These statistics refer specifically to criminal offenses. Following the full-scale invasion, the government adopted a resolution imposing a moratorium on inspections, which also applies to the State Environmental Inspectorate — the primary source of information for initiating criminal proceedings,” the expert explained.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news