The state enterprise “Ukraine’s Forests” (Ліси України) has confirmed that more than 1,200 cubic metres of already harvested timber cannot be reached in two border-area forestry districts. Russian drones are attacking timber transport on the open highways of Kharkiv region, and the 9,600-hectare territory of the Hutianske branch has become inaccessible to forest managers.
FPV drones with fibre-optic guidance are “hunting” timber trucks in Kharkiv region. “Ukraine’s Forests” reported on the situation last week in two forestry districts of the Hutianske branch, located right next to the Russian border.
Any large object moving along the region’s roads draws enemy strikes. Fibre-optic drones give the Russians the ability to destroy heavy vehicles with high precision from a long distance. Strikes on petrol stations in Kharkiv region have caused a shortage of the fuel needed to transport timber. Foresters are planning alternative routes to avoid the most dangerous stretches of road, reviewing harvesting sites, and introducing extra protection for workers and equipment.
Work continues wherever the security situation allows. In the first half of the year the Hutianske branch managed to harvest 29,500 cubic metres of timber, including 10,400 cubic metres of firewood. “Ukraine’s Forests” points out that this is critically important for social services and households preparing for the heating season amid the energy crisis.
The threat to Kharkiv region’s forests has grown over more than four years of war. Russia has been targeting the region’s forests since the first phase of the invasion. Ukrainians are already weighing whether Moscow will ever pay for the forests destroyed by the war. Ukraine’s losses from forest fires had exceeded 19.5 billion euros by the end of May, amounting to 165,000 hectares of burnt forest, most of it linked to shelling along the front line and in border regions.
Russian forces also used a drone to attack employees of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service in Zaporizhzhia region. The strike targeted crews putting out a forest fire caused by earlier shelling. People protecting Ukraine’s forests are coming under fire even while carrying out rescue work.
The timber that can’t be reached due to safety conditions wasn’t intended for export anyway. Ukraine’s zero-quota licensing regime, in force until the end of 2026, bans the export of unprocessed timber and firewood. This is meant to preserve scarce raw materials for domestic processors and for heating homes in rural areas. Forest restoration in Ukraine hasn’t stopped – the national programme has passed the mark of one billion trees planted, even as fires and shelling keep destroying more and more forest area. For now, the timber stays where it was prepared for removal. Data from the state forestry enterprise shows that the coming heating season in Kharkiv region will depend heavily on the 10,400 cubic metres of firewood foresters have managed to prepare so far.
Context
Traditional FPV drones rely on radio signals, which can be jammed relatively easily using electronic warfare (EW) equipment. Fibre-optic drones, by contrast, have a physical micro-cable. That means the drone’s control signal and video feed cannot be jammed by radio interference, and the operator sees a crystal-clear picture right up to the moment of impact, giving high precision and the ability to strike targets deep behind the front line. These drones also create a new environmental problem – thousands of kilometres of tough glass-fibre cable now litter Ukraine’s fields and forests, forming deadly traps for wild animals that get tangled in them and die.
The Russian army is deliberately targeting the civilian sector and logistics. Timber trucks and petrol stations are being destroyed to paralyse the local economy. Ukraine’s energy system has already suffered heavily from relentless missile and drone strikes, so firewood and local fuel resources have become a matter of national security and survival for civilians, social institutions, hospitals and shelters ahead of the coming winter.
The war is inflicting irreversible harm on Ukraine’s nature – vast areas of forest have burned due to constant shelling, and putting out forest fires has become a life-threatening task for rescuers. To secure domestic supply and prevent resources leaking out of the country, a strict ban remains in place on the export of sawlogs and firewood.
Ecological losses to Ukraine’s forests
Combat operations have caused catastrophic, long-lasting damage to Ukraine’s forest ecosystems. Total losses to Ukraine’s nature conservation sites and protected areas have reached 3.8 trillion UAH, roughly 74.32 billion euros. Mass forest fires have caused severe air pollution, while toxic chemical compounds and heavy metals released by explosions are irreversibly contaminating soil and groundwater, threatening acid rain and ecosystem degradation for decades to come. In total, 13 national parks, 8 nature reserves and 2 biosphere reserves have ended up in the combat zone or under temporary occupation.
Svyati Hory National Nature Park
This park in Donetsk region is now considered the most severely damaged protected area in Ukraine. Due to the active front line and constant artillery strikes, the park has suffered catastrophic destruction – more than 80% of its unique forest stands have been either completely destroyed or severely damaged.
Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve
This reserve in Kherson region is one of the oldest and most famous steppe reserves in all of Europe. As the territory has been under prolonged occupation, Ukrainian authorities have completely lost control over the protection of rare wild animals there, including the resident Przewalski’s horses. Heavy military vehicles are constantly moving through the reserve, literally driving over and irreversibly destroying the fragile steppe ecosystem that took centuries to form.
Black Sea Biosphere Reserve
The reserve lies in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, and its territory is heavily affected by the occupying forces’ military logistics and shipping activity. This activity has completely disrupted migratory bird routes that had been stable for centuries and destroyed their nesting sites. Military activity at sea and underwater noise are causing enormous, often fatal, harm to marine wildlife, especially dolphins.
Tuzlivski Lymany National Nature Park
This protected area in Odesa region regularly suffers from missile strikes and the activities of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Explosions, fuel leaks and toxic chemical compounds entering the water have caused mass die-offs of birds and aquatic wildlife, poisoning the entire local food chain.
Natural sites around the Kakhovka hydropower plant
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the massive surge of water that followed caused a sudden and irreversible ecological disaster in southern Ukraine. The flooding, followed by drying-out, wholly or partly destroyed 48 protected natural areas covering a total of around 120,000 hectares. The mass of water completely washed away the fertile topsoil and literally drowned or wiped out local endemic plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world.