Prosecutors of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office have sent an indictment to the court regarding three officials of the Southern Interregional Department of Forestry and Hunting of the State Forest Agency of Ukraine.

The investigation established that the head of the department, whose authority extended to the Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions, organized a scheme for the systematic receipt of illegal benefits from individuals seeking to obtain hunting permits. He involved his deputy and a member of the examination commission in the implementation of the criminal scheme.

The officials, abusing their official position, ensured the "successful" passing of exams for candidates for hunters for a set amount – on average 2,000 hryvnias from each.

In total, within the framework of this scheme, the members of the organized group received over 100,000 hryvnias in illegal benefits. In February 2025, they were detained while receiving another sum.

The actions of the accused have been qualified under Part 3 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – receipt of illegal benefits by an official, committed by an organized group.

Currently, the officials have been suspended from their positions, two of them are in custody.

The pre-trial investigation was conducted by investigators of the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigation located in Mykolaiv.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.