As Russia prepares to deploy North Koreans to the Ukraine meat grinder—which has now passed 1 million causalities—Ukraine is shipping more timber to the country’s first line of defence. It comes as the state-owned Forests of Ukraine has signed off on a new contract with the Ministry of Defence, accelerating the shipment of wood to arrive on the front lines in a matter of days.
The new contract comes as Zelenskyy scrambles to deliver sawlog and processed lumber to reinforce military reinforcements by any means possible. So far, more than 11,000 cubic metres of pine have been shipped from the branches of Polissia, Stolychne, Slobozhanskyi, Northern, and Central forest offices to the frontline regions to construct engineering and military facilities.
The timber’s final destinations will include Kharkiv—now under heavy fire—Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Wood Central understands that the timber will help construct fortifications—including dugouts, fireworks, and trenches — as part of Ukraine’s first line of defence:
“This year, we have supplied 185.2 thousand cubic meters of wood worth UAH 335.5 million, which is almost twice as much as last year. We close all applications by 100%, because we understand the importance and significance of wood for the construction of fortifications,” Forests of Ukraine said via telegram.
It comes months after Ukrainian media revealed that inefficiencies and corruption plagued the country’s massive fortification programme after Martyna Bohuslavets, head of the Anti-Corruption Center Mezha, raised concern with366 million hryvnias (or US $9.2 million) in falsified contracts.
“We are working with the documents, but we realised that this is a very sensitive issue, as it concerns the supply of wood to the fortifications where the enemy is advancing,” Ms Bohuslavets said, adding that Russian armed forces are now crossing into Ukrainian occupied areas before armed troops have time to fortify the border.
In May, Wood Central reported that more than 75,000 cubic metres of timber had already been transported to the front line so far this year. With the Ukrainian miltary using timber, concrete, and steel to build more than 100,000 “dragons’ teeth” along a 2,000km border with Russia.
“In just a few days, the Professional Procurement team (responsible for managing the distribution of the timber) will roll out a new electronic catalogue to meet the needs of the military administrations,” according to Dmytro Solovei, the Deputy Director of Professional Procurement for Development who spoke of the importance of wood in defending Ukrainian positions in the field. “We have significantly increased the range of timber and qualified suppliers and did everything possible to make procurement convenient and efficient.”
“In addition to timber, (the new platform) also sells drones, fuel, office equipment, and more,” Mr Solovei said, before adding that “our main goal in the rear is to provide the military with everything necessary and allow it to meet all their needs as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this year, Wood Central reported that ENGOs, led by the WWF, criticised the Zelenskyy government over a new policy that they claim will lead to the rapid escalation in logging in Ukrainian forests.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the conflict has drastically increased the relative value of forests’ previously under-utilised role in the national economy. “This is because Ukraine’s main industrial areas were located in occupied and fought-over territories…with forests, thankfully, largely located in the “safe” areas of Ukraine and thus remain a largely intact resource,” according to a report provided by the Basel Institute of Governance, published last year.
“Continued attacks on civilian infrastructure are creating a high demand for forest products to generate heat and be used in reconstruction efforts,” the report said, adding that “the Ukrainian Government has recognised the sector’s increased importance by creating a new state-owned enterprise, Forests of Ukraine – now the country’s largest entity.”
- Click on Wood Central’s special feature to learn more about Ukraine’s forests and its challenges during and after the conflict.
