In the Dniprovskyi District of Kyiv, there are 30 hectares of floodplain forest with alder, birch, and poplar — the only remaining example of such a landscape on the left bank of the capital. Locals call it "Kyiv's Amazon." It is here, on a water fund plot, that four residential houses, a security building, and farm structures of the "Bryz" cooperative stand — with a total area of 500 square meters.
What the courts decided
In March 2025, the Commercial Court of Kyiv ordered the owner to demolish all illegally constructed structures. The owner appealed the decision — and lost: the Northern Appellate Commercial Court upheld it. The lawsuit was filed by the Dniprovskyi District Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv.
"The plot must be cleared of all illegally constructed structures, thus removing obstacles for the public to use it"
Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office
Formally, this means the land should return to a state suitable for public use. In practice — there should be no private fences in the riparian zone of the Rusanivska Proliska.
Why this is more than just another demolition
Horbachiha is a chronically unprotected territory. Kyiv City Council reserved it for a nature reserve back in 1994, but over more than 30 years has failed to grant it any protected status. The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Office of the Prosecutor General challenged this inaction — by both Kyiv City Council and Kyiv City State Administration — in administrative court: a separate lawsuit, a separate case.
In parallel, the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center has been suing Kyiv City Council and developers since February 2025 to cancel the transfer of 30 hectares of the nature reserve to the company "Construction Inter-Sectoral Alliance" — for a shopping and office center with parking. Funds for court fees were raised by the community.
- The decision to demolish "Bryz" is an enforcement proceeding, not demolition as a fact
- Protected status is still absent — without it, any plot is vulnerable to new leasing
- In September 2025, a pre-trial investigation began into illegal tree felling in the riparian zone of the Rusanivska Proliska
Where the real risk lies
The court's demolition decision has taken effect — but enforcement proceedings in Ukraine and the actual dismantling of capital structures can be separated by years. Cases where court decisions on demolishing illegal structures on water fund lands in Kyiv were executed quickly are rare.
A separate threat: while three parallel court proceedings are ongoing, adjacent Horbachiha lands are being prepared for sale for development, according to ecologists. The absence of protected status makes any court victory temporary — the next leaseholder could appear before the excavator comes to demolish "Bryz."
If Kyiv City Council does not grant the nature reserve protected status before the KECC case concludes, the court decision to demolish five buildings risks becoming a symbolic victory amid a new wave of leasing the remaining 30 hectares.
