The SBI has launched a large-scale special operation against illegal logging and corruption in the forestry sector
The State Bureau of Investigation on October 7 launched a large-scale special operation "Green Shield", aimed at exposing illegal logging, timber theft, and corruption schemes in the forestry sector.
Investigative actions are being carried out in a number of criminal proceedings and concern both forestry employees and managers of state enterprises. After the initial measures are completed, the SBI promises to report on the specific results of the operation.
Among the schemes being checked by law enforcement are cutting down healthy trees under the guise of sanitary felling, selling timber at prices unprofitable for the state, reuse of documents for transporting unaccounted timber, embezzlement of state enterprise funds, and fictitious employment.
Separately, investigators are checking illegal logging in protected areas and the role of officials who may have organized such schemes or facilitated their operation. Sanitary felling itself is a legal way to improve forest health—within "Green Shield" the issue is specifically the possible use of this mechanism for illegal harvesting of healthy timber.
The scale of the problem remains significant. According to the State Forest Resources Agency, in 2025, in forests under its management, 4.9 thousand cases of illegal logging were recorded with a total volume of 45.8 thousand cubic meters. The damage was estimated at UAH 1.07 billion.
At the same time, only UAH 10.9 million was recovered voluntarily and through courts—about 1% of the estimated losses. 3,181 cases were transferred to law enforcement agencies, but court decisions were obtained only in 55 cases totaling UAH 9 million. The largest volumes of illegal logging were recorded by the State Forest Resources Agency in Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Zakarpattia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
For the SBI, fighting abuses in the forestry sector has already been a separate systemic direction. By the end of 2025, the Bureau investigated 456 criminal proceedings in this area, reported suspicion to 143 persons, and sent 77 indictments against 144 defendants to court. The losses established in these proceedings amounted to UAH 546 million.
Courts, to ensure compensation for damages, seized the property of defendants worth over UAH 105 million, and about UAH 7 million as of the beginning of 2026 had already been returned to the state. In January–March 2026 alone, the SBI reported another UAH 133 million in established losses in the forestry sector.
The operation takes place after a large-scale centralization of state forestry. As part of the reform, 158 state forestry enterprises were merged into a single state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine", separating economic activity from the control functions of the State Forest Resources Agency.
"Forests of Ukraine" is now the largest state forest user in the country and manages approximately 6.6 million hectares of the state forest fund. One of the declared goals of the reform was to make sector management more centralized, standardized, and transparent.
The SBI notes that "Green Shield" continues the practice of large thematic special operations of the Bureau. Previously, law enforcement launched "Fair Conscription" against abuses during mobilization and military registration, "Justice for Soldiers" regarding violations in military units, and "Stop Trafficking" against illegal circulation of weapons, ammunition, and drugs.
Currently, the SBI does not name the total number of searches, detainees, or suspects within "Green Shield". These data are to be made public after the initial investigative actions are completed.
Based on materials from: State Bureau of Investigation, State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine, SBI
