In summer and autumn in 2020, forests massively burned in Luhansk oblast. More than 600 houses and more than 25 thousand hectares of forest were destroyed, 17 people were killed and 93 injured. Nowadays after 4 years, having occupied the Luhansk oblast, the Russian media release a story called: "Kyiv deliberately destroyed the forests of Donbass." It is depressing that this fake of propagandists received the active support of pro-Russian residents of the region in social networks.
In summer and autumn in 2020, forests massively burned in Luhansk oblast. More than 600 houses and more than 25 thousand hectares of forest were destroyed, 17 people were killed and 93 injured. Nowadays after 4 years, having occupied the Luhansk oblast, the Russian media release a story called: "Kyiv deliberately destroyed the forests of Donbass." It is depressing that this fake of propagandists received the active support of pro-Russian residents of the region in social networks.
There is no secret that Russian propaganda was actively working in Luhansk oblast before the full-scale invasion. The message "Ukraine burned down its forests" sounded from the occupation resources even then in 2020:
But as for video evidence, the Come Back Alive charity foundation published a video on October 2, 2020, where they said was sent by our military. There two members of the LPR group set fire to dry grass near the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
According to Brian Milakovskyi, a researcher who studies the impact of the war on Ukrainian forestry, arson could be, but this is not the main reason.
"Arson could play a role along with other sources of fire. But you should still take into account the weather conditions in summer and autumn of the 20th year: gusts of wind, high air temperature, drought. We know that locals despite warnings did not stop using fire every day for their needs. They burned garbage, straw in the fields, weeds in the gardens, "says Brian.
"With such wind power, with such spread of flames... In fact, the wind reached with the speed of 25-30 meters per second, "adds Oleksii Fedosov, deputy head of the operational coordination center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia oblast, after stewing also spoke about difficult weather conditions.
But there are confirmed cases of arson, and only the occupation "authorities" are involved in this.
For example, on July 22, as a result of shelling near the village of Lopaskino, Novoaydar district, a fire of dry grass and young forest arose on the territory of Trekhizbenskyi forestry. Then 252 people and 51 pieces of equipment were involved in the extinguishing. It was another fire after the first large-scale in early July.
"Enemy arson played a role in the area of Trekhizbenskyi forestry. This is the part of the front between Trekhoizbenka and Old Aidar, where almost no people lived, but there were many positions of the Armed Forces. LPRovtsy shot from the left bank in the steppe areas, it's easy to start a fire there, "says Brian Milakovskyi about this.
As for the fires of July 6-8, the police put forward 3 versions: weather conditions, careless handling of fire and deliberate arson.
The fire investigation stuck in place and this gave rise to the foundation for Russian propaganda. So here every resident of Luhansk oblast has chosen for himself the version that he likes more. Someone thinks that it was a large-scale sabotage of Russians, for someone - the Ukrainian authorities drove people from the "precious land" by arson or hid deforestation.
The last two versions carried the theses of propaganda messages. But here is a specific explanation - what was valuable sand in the front-line zone - the Russians did not. As for illegal logging, this is a serious problem in Ukraine, but the Russians also did not provide confirming facts of fires to conceal logging.
However, the use of tracer bullets by Russian mercenaries for setting fire to dead wood has been officially confirmed.
At the same time Russians hide that in real time they cut down forests near Sievierodonetsk in large numbers.
"Completely burned forest, which stood in the early summer after the fights. It was all drunk, taken to the trenches, to the dugout. This is what it looks like now. It’s a grim picture, actually", confirms Russian volunteer.
Even visually you can see the change in the number of trees on the same segment in the Novoaydarskyi district. The first video is March 2023, the second is November 2023:
The forests of Luhansk oblast became a battlefield in the Russian-Ukrainian war. In 2020 according to Brian 30 thousand hectares of forests in the Luhansk oblast burned given the grass fires.
"Now there are no exact numbers of how many forests have burned since the beginning of the new phase of the war. But here another thing is worse: with the invasion, the destruction of the massifs of the Kreminskyi forests began, which were almost not damaged in the fires of 2020. This is the most important forest in eastern Ukraine after Izyum forest. Izyum forest is the largest forest, and then - Kreminskyi. The occupiers are now destroying them very actively, "says the researcher.
As a result of the Russian occupation, another global problem that arose is groundwater is flooding settlements in Sievierodonetsk district (Bobrovo, Borivske, Syrotyne).
The occupiers are trying to shift responsibility for the cut down forests and now accuse the Ukrainian authorities of deliberate fires.
According to Brian Milakovskyi, now the Russians are destroying the system that was created over several centuries.
"The planting of forests in the twentieth century had an impact on groundwater in the sandy landscapes of Luhansk oblast. There used to be more wetlands, lakes. Pines every year took more water from the soil, the number of reservoirs decreased. The settlements near Sievierodonetsk appeared already in the conditions of planted forests. Now there are significant areas without forests, so the water returns, "he explained.
In the video you can see small ponds near the roadway - this is how groundwater rises:
We want to note that with this material we tried to refute the Russian fake about the deliberate burning of the forests in Luhansk oblast, but at the same time we do not justify the inconsistent actions and inaction of the responsible persons during the fires in the summer and autumn of 2020.
