In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defense has returned approximately 170 hectares of land in the Odessa and Cherkasy regions to state ownership. For decades, these plots were part of defense lands and used for personnel training but were later unlawfully transferred to private ownership.

Through thorough monitoring, it was determined that the local authorities privatized these plots, worth more than UAH 10 million, and used them for commercial purposes to make profit. The Ministry of Justice’s Anti-Raider Commission granted several Ministry of Defense requests to cancel the illegal registration of the five plots. This will strengthen the defense forces’ ability to effectively carry out their tasks.

In the past three months alone, 1 500 hectares of illegally occupied and cultivated training grounds in the Odessa region have been returned and registered based on court decisions. Efforts are ongoing to recover an additional 1 000 hectares of land from the same training grounds.

The Main Directorate of Defense Lands and Funds of the Ministry of Defense emphasizes that these lands hold special strategic importance, and their illegal use is detrimental to state interests and is unacceptable.