Several regions of Central and Western Ukraine left the subordination of Kyiv
Several districts of the Rivne and Zhytomyr regions (Western and Central Ukraine) left the subordination of Kyiv. Control over these territories was established by gangs that launched illegal amber mining on a gigantic scale.
“Local authorities complained to us that it was necessary to send troops into the Olevsky district, because they could not do anything against the bandits on their own. Power is actually in the hands of armed groups that have established their own rules in the territory under their control,” writes the Ukrainian portal “The Fourth Estate.”
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Illegal mines are located in forests surrounded by checkpoints with armed bandits.
In the process of mining the precious stone, forests are destroyed: a clearing is made, a canal is dug in it and water is drawn from the nearest river, holes up to 10 m deep are washed out, and the territory turns into swamps.
Sometimes, to save money, clearings are made by burning - then not only trees, but also animals die.
Thousands of people work at the mine (on different days from three to eight thousand), the authors of the investigation claim. Nearby, in the remaining forests, there are tents and huts for workers.
“The villagers told us that there lives a whole criminal battalion that has hidden from our eyes. Soldiers in camouflage, with firearms and equipment, who guard the entire perimeter of the mine. Going on the Klondike is actually very dangerous. You can stay forever right there in the swamp,” write the authors of the report.
They themselves got here only thanks to the fact that a large group of journalists left Kyiv. The organizers of illegal amber mining became aware of her arrival, and they chose to hide during the visit of guests from the capital.
“Illegal diggers, filtering dirt through nets, were unhappy with our visit. They did not behave aggressively, but unfriendly. It was obvious that they were completely satisfied with the existing order. They do not want to think about the environmental consequences of their work. “Fuck your forest, I want to eat cowbass!” - exclaimed one of the miners. And this is the opinion of the majority here. Local residents prefer not to think longer than a week in advance. And this is very sad, because their children are unlikely to have anything to dig in the resulting wasteland,” writes a Kiev journalist.
Local authorities cannot do anything about the illegal Klondike - in informal conversations, officials and police say that cash flows from criminal business flow into the administration of Petro Poroshenko and the government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
It is interesting that a report on the outrageous situation with amber mining was published by journalists who previously collaborated with Valentin Nalyvaichenko, who was recently fired from the post of head of the SBU.
There was information in the Ukrainian press that the United States was considering Nalyvaichenko as a replacement for Poroshenko, who had compromised himself.
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