Since the beginning of the occupation, Russian businesses have organized logging in a number of provinces. Besides stealing grain, Russian invaders have been stealing timber in the occupied territories by cutting down forests. They cut trees both for using them in their fortifications and for commercial purposes, according to The Wall Street Journal. WSJ published the pictures of the Tavriiske Forest in the Kherson region made by Maxar space technology company a month after Russia invaded and in January 2023.
Russian invaders are extensively cutting down and selling Ukrainian woods. Photo: WSJ
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said that since the beginning of the occupation, Russian businesses have organized logging in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and other temporarily occupied Ukrainian regions.
"Entrepreneurs carry out uncontrolled, barbaric cutting down of forests, which, if continued, will inevitably lead to catastrophic consequences for the environment. Most of the forest massifs in this region are of artificial origin, and they were specially created to protect the soil from being eroded by wind and water, while also performing the function of recreational and forest improvement plantations," she said.
Russian troops began constructing a "line of defense" on the left bank of the Kherson region, which has a number of nature reserves, natural monuments, and unique ecosystems, including sandy steppes. Digging trenches, probable artillery shelling, and cutting down rare trees for firewood and fortifications can destroy the nature of the Kherson region.
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