The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), referring to Maxar photos and the words of Ukrainian officials, writes that the Russian occupiers, during the seizure of Ukrainian land, stole not only grain, but also wood, cutting down forests.
The Russians used the felled trees both to strengthen their positions and for commercial purposes.
The State Forestry Agency of Ukraine informed about that it had discovered cases of illegal logging in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kyiv regions, as well as in the south of the country. Oaks, pines, hornbeams and aspen were cut down the most.
The publication, in particular, published a photo of the Taurian forest in Kherson region a month after the invasion and a year after it.
Recently, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Malyar reported that since the beginning of the occupation, Russian enterprises have organized forest harvesting in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and other temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine. According to her, the occupiers are uncontrollably and barbarically cutting down forests, which, if continued, will inevitably lead to catastrophic environmental consequences.