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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The State Ecological Inspectorate of the Central District, together with the prosecutor's office, won a court case concerning mass tree felling in a protective shelterbelt in the Cherkasy region. Although the police were unable to immediately identify those responsible for destroying the environment, the liability for the damages fell entirely on the shoulders of the local authorities.
The protective belt cut down and a large bill
It all began last autumn 2022, when law enforcement opened a criminal case over illegal tree felling near the village of Rotmistrivka in Cherkasy Raion. Eco-inspectors were involved as experts to examine the scene, where they conducted detailed calculations and determined the amount of environmental damage — it amounted to 669 429,61 hryvnias.
Because investigators could not identify the specific perpetrators during the inquiry, the case was brought to its logical conclusion through the economic court. The Smila District Prosecutor’s Office filed a suit in the interest of the state, represented by the State Ecological Inspectorate of the Central District, directly against the Rotmistrivka village council, on whose territory the illegal felling occurred.
Court decision: the community is responsible for order on its land
The Commercial Court of the Cherkasy Region supported the position of the prosecutors and ecologists. The court ruling in favor of the state was adopted at the end of June 2026, and it became final in early September.
Now the village council is obliged to transfer nearly 670 thousand hryvnias to the state. This case once again confirms clear court practice: local self-government bodies bear direct responsibility for preserving protective shelterbelts and forest plantations on their territory. If shelterbelts are destroyed by unknown persons and the authorities do not provide proper protection, the damage to nature must be compensated from the local budget.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Майже 700 тисяч за знищені дерева: суд зобов'язав сільраду на Черкащині сплатити збитки за незаконну вирубку". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Aktsenty.
