A group of people will be tried in the Zhytomyr region for illegal extraction of sandstone in large volumes

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Zhytomyr region has sent a case to court against individuals who organized the mass illegal extraction of sandstone in the territory of the Olevsk district. Now every “cube” of the extracted material will be under the close control of the law.

Building stone and its destructive consequences

Sandstone is not just an ordinary stone, but an important mineral of national importance. It is actively used in the decoration of buildings, but in this situation it has become a tool for illegal enrichment for a group of individuals. According to the materials of the pre-trial investigation, at least 700 cubic meters of sandstone were illegally extracted from the subsoil in the three months of the summer of 2025.

After calculations by specialists of the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Polesie district, it turned out that the damage caused to the environment amounts to more than 16 million hryvnias. These are resources that are actually stolen from the state and nature.

Joint efforts against “black miners”

The evidence base was collected through joint efforts. Environmentalists, in close cooperation with the prosecutor’s office, police and SBU, worked to ensure that nothing from the case materials was missed. As the department emphasizes, such coordinated work allows for a realistic qualification of environmental crimes and achieving court sentences.

The head of the Polissya District Environmental Inspectorate, Yevheniy Medvedovsky, emphasizes that cases of this kind are a warning sign for those who plan to earn money from illegal quarries:

“Coordinated activities of law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies allow not only to identify offenders, but also to prepare a reliable evidence base for the court. It is important that the principle of the inevitability of punishment is understood by all who violate laws on state subsoil.”

What fate awaits the accused?

The actions of the organizers are classified as illegal mining of minerals on a large scale, committed by a group of people in a prior conspiracy. This is a serious offense that carries a severe penalty. Now it is up to the court, which must make a decision in this case, which concerns multi-million losses in the Zhytomyr region.