Craters amidst burnt trees: Ukraine's National Guard posts video showing state of botanical reserve in Luhansk Oblast

Ukraine's National Guard has released a video showing what used to be the Serebrianka Botanical Reserve near the city of Kreminna (Luhansk Oblast). It was filmed by a soldier of the Burevii Brigade.

Source: Ukraine's National Guard on Twitter (Х)

The once majestic green pine trees of the Serebrianka Forest have turned into charred trunks, with deep shell holes and Russian trenches visible around them.

"The 'Russian world' brought by the invaders is in all its glory," the National Guard officers captioned the video. [The "Russian world" is the general idea of the superiority of Russian Orthodoxy, culture, language, etc., widely promoted by pro-Kremlin figures – ed.]

The local nature reserve is located 8 kilometres southwest of the city of Kreminna, currently under Russian occupation.

The reserve served as a valuable centre of boreal flora (typical for temperate climates) and plant species listed in the Red Book of Ukraine before it ended up on the front line [Red Book of Ukraine is the official national red list of the threatened animals, plants and fungi which are protected by law in Ukraine – ed.].

The total area of the reserve is over 107 hectares. It included swamps, forests, meadows, and rich aquatic and marsh vegetation.

The species of common quail, wood pigeon, pheasant, European mink, red deer, barn owl and jay are just some of the fauna that used to inhabit the botanical reserve.

Background: Earlier, we reported that, as estimated by the anti-corruption centre NGL.media, the Russians have destroyed over UAH 14 billion (about US$359.2 million) worth of forests.

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