KRASNODAR, December 22 The case of a large forest fire in Gelendzhik, which occurred in August, has been brought to court, the defendant faces up to four years in prison, the regional prosecutor's office reported.
A forest covering an area of 1.5 hectares caught fire on August 29 in Gelendzhik in the Kupriyanova Shchel microdistrict on Rechnaya Street, and later the area grew many times, reaching 118 hectares. On August 31, local authorities announced the complete elimination of the fire. Later, a 40-year-old local resident was detained for exposing electrical cables on the property, which started a forest fire. The suspect was also arrested for drug use.
“»On the fact of a fire that occurred in the Kabardinsky district forestry, the OND in Gelendzhik on September 13, 2023, a criminal case was opened against R.G. Kovalenko under Part 1 of Article 261 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (destruction and damage to forest plantations). It was established that from the fire he made the ground cover caught fire, the fire spread in the direction of the wind to forest plantations… The prosecutor’s office sent a criminal case to the court and is under consideration,” the release said.
The sanction of this article provides for a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles, correctional or forced labor, or imprisonment for up to four years.
According to the regional Ministry of Natural Resources, material damage as a result of this fire amounted to almost 92 million rubles.