I bought a house, and a tree fell on it – what happened next, in the project “On Monday it will reach Lukashenko”

A new series of the project “Monday will reach Lukashenko” is dedicated to the August hurricane and the story of a girl who, a few days before the disaster, bought a house in the Vilei district. A tree fell on the building, breaking part of the roof. According to her, it happened through the fault of the chairman of the village executive committee, to which she had previously appealed to cut this tree. But no one responded to the requests. Is that really the case? What happened and how was the situation resolved? Details were told in the release of the program, which was released on September 14 in the evening broadcast of the Belarus 1 TV channel.

Who does not dream of a house in nature, and even on the shore of the reservoir? But what if this dream suddenly turns into a headache and is not the fault of the owners? Hurricane, Tree and the Indifference of the Vileika Administration “Going to the end is my story” – this was the description under the video, which was shown on the air. The original video was published in TikTok on August 19, 2026. Even earlier, on the night of August 6-7, Belarus was covered by a powerful thunderstorm front with a hurricane wind, the gusts of which reached 29 m / s. That night, someone on the station fell down a fence, someone had a gazebo. The roof fell from the houses, hundreds of villages were left without electricity. The Vileysky district of Minsk region suffered the most. A tree that was growing on the village council grounds fell directly onto the house, breaking through part of the roof. Marta Gurman, the video's author's name, says it wouldn't have happened had the local government paid attention to him earlier.

- Thank you to our chairman for this "beauty," for not paying attention to the complaint that a tree stood. Now we have this summer shower, it's all pouring. She believes that it is absolutely not necessary to compensate for damage, absolutely, the video published in TikTok says.

According to Marta Gurman, the chairman of the village executive committee refuses and transfers responsibility. The girl initially planned to sue and recover from the local authorities for damages, but then changed her mind. The tree fell directly on the roof of the house Gedevichi Village, Ludvinovsky village council. The owner of the hundred since August of this year is Martha Gurman, herself from Minsk. Introducing the case, the girl shows her plot and draws attention to the fact that it is located next to the site of the village council, which, explains, is ownerless:

- There were thickets, there was a forest. Nearby, a tree that fell on the house damaged the slate. The tree was huge, completely closed the entrance to the house when it fell. The foundations sank, the floor in the house rose, the doors did not walk well, dripped from the ceiling - there was a terrible shower. So part of the house was damaged. We were not going to touch it yet, we will have to dismantle part of the house and glue the wallpaper again. I don't know what to do here yet, but it needs to be cleaned up. In any case, it is not cosmetically solved.

Martha Gurman's house was hit hardest. And from the moment I took the documents and there was a hurricane, literally 4 days. I simply did not have time to get insurance. But a tree on the next plot, the girl noticed when choosing a house.

- We came to see a different house. We met the locals and they showed us the house. He was good, good, nothing leaked. So come and live. We agreed with the owners, made a deal. On Monday, I took the papers. And even then, there was this tree. It bothered me, so I went to the village council on Monday. There was no chairman at the scene. I called her, to which she told me in a harsh form that “no one will see anything to you, at least write to the President.” On Friday, I called the chairman and told him there was a tree on our house.

Chairman of the Ludvinsk village Executive Committee Natalia Sheveleva says that the call from Martha Gurman came the day before the hurricane. Not August 3, but August 5. But in two days, the question would not have been solved: first, the tree must be recognized as an emergency, and this is a whole procedure.

- For trees that are located on public territory, the village executive committee is responsible. She [Marta Gurman] turned to me, I explained to her that in order to remove the tree and declare it emergency, you need to write a statement. But, unfortunately, we did not have time to do anything and did not have time to apply. The procedure is such that a citizen needs to apply to the village executive committee with a statement. Then we send a petition to the Vileysky experimental forest farm. Then, if the tree is recognized as dangerous, the village executive committee sends an application to the Vilei Center for servicing the activities of budgetary organizations.

Recalling the events of that day, Natalia Sheveleva notes that on the night of August 6-7 there was a strong wind:

- We immediately went to the scene. Martha Gurman wasn't here because she's only coming for the weekend. She and I agreed that we would help her cut and remove the tree.

In turn, Martha Gurman emphasizes that when the hurricane occurred, they immediately came and sawed down the branches, independently removed the debris.

- The chairman of the village council provided me with a used slate and film. Okay. What do we do next? She'll bring a slate. What to do, climb on the roof to repair yourself? There was a lot of work here, and the work was expensive.

In the village, the consequences of the hurricane are still being eliminated, not all the fallen branches and trees were brought out. But the fact that this elm is unsafe, said the former owners of the house, said the locals in an interview with the journalist:

- Grandma used to live here. She was constantly asking, asking, somehow anticipating that this tree would fall. But it is predictable, because we also have a huge lime there, it will also fall soon. There's three of them down there. The current owner of the house addressed the issue of the tree, but no one did anything about it. However, they reacted – they arrived, two days later they began to clean it up. But the fact remains that the tree stood. We have a lot of trees, if you look at it. Again, the damage caused is considerable, especially the family is large (the current owners of the house). - Editor's note. There lived an old grandmother for 80 years, she is just verbally her (chairman of the village council). - She asked. He promises everything, the president promises many things.

Given this, the journalist in an interview with the chairman of the village council drew attention to the fact that the current hostess of the house, Martha Gurman, still appealed to her (the chairman of the village council). Not in writing, but orally.

- But do you confirm that it was that the former owners have already contacted about this tree.

- No, no one ever came to me. We drive through, we monitor every village, it happens once a month. When we look at the tree, we see it, we see it, we see it. But I repeat again that this tree did not visually look sick, dry. It was leafy, visually there was a beautiful tree, — said the Chairman of the Ludvinsk village Executive Committee Natalia Sheveleva. Emergency trees: who is to blame and where did they turn? The director of the Vileysky experimental forestry farm Dmitry Drozd said that the appeal from the Ludvinovsky rural executive committee was received on August 10:

On August 13, when our staff arrived here, this tree had already fallen. Judging from what I see in this situation, the entire central part of the trunk is completely rotten.

The journalist asked the head of the forestry farm, could there be rot in the month when it fell, or it happened much earlier.

- Of course not, not this month. This tree has been standing here, I think, for twenty years. Core rot, dryness and clear signs of tree tilt greater than 30 degrees from the vertical axis of tree growth. If you look closely at the tree, you can see that some of the branches are missing, they are already broken by previous winds. In the central part of the trunk, you can see that there is already a core rot here. Therefore, this tree can also fall, explains Dmitry Drozd, speaking about the fallen tree and one of the other trees in the village.

Speaking about whether it was possible to prevent the fall of the tree and the current situation, the Chairman of the village Council Natalia Sheveleva notes that the territory of the village Council includes 35 settlements:

- We cannot remove all the trees at once. We remove them every year, but we can't predict whether some birch or pine will fall today.

Director of Viley forestry Dmitry Drozd adds that the hurricane wind on the night of August 6-7 was so strong that even healthy trees fell, not to mention those that are recognized as emergency or have some signs for this.

- Healthy trees 50-60 in diameter in settlements and forests were broken in half.

Continuing the conversation, Natalia Sheveleva claims that the village council has a queue to remove objects of the plant world:

- If, for example, we identified 40 trees in 2023 or 2025, we cannot cut them down. To remove one tree, huge funds are spent - from 500 rubles to 3 thousand. If the tree is large, there are some moments and difficulties with its sawing. It's not just ripping out a weed or mowing a goldenrod, it's a serious cost.

- The problem is money now, is it? – asks the journalist.

- No, there are funds. To date, the procurement procedure has been carried out, we will cut down emergency trees, the chairman of the village council answers.

After this incident, Martha Gurman filed a claim for 115 to check the other trees that remained on the site. Specialists within three days went to the scene and identified them as emergency. The girl notes that TikTok recorded later:

- Time has passed and I realize there is no help. I don’t know where to get this compensation. As far as I hear, they should help in the village council, explain at least. And on the very first day, the chairman told me that we would help, we would draw up a letter, there was some kind of commission, the Emergencies Ministry, as it turned out. We will help, tell everything, tell everything, at least try to get compensation, she said. I sent a letter to the village council requesting that they come, draw up a survey report and compile an estimate to try to compensate for the damage. I received a letter of resignation from the chairman.

In response, the chairman of the village council Natalia Sheveleva said that the village executive committee is incompetent in these matters and you need to contact the ROCHS and the insurance company:

- We explained to her that if we gave her an incomplete answer, she should apply to the Vilei District Executive Committee.

In an interview with the journalist, the girl said that after that she appealed to the Vilei district executive committee, where, according to her, they responded to the appeal with lightning speed.

- The next day, experts came along with the commission, she added.

In cases of natural disaster, an emergency commission operates, it acts in all district, city and executive committees. In this case, it is headed by the vice-chairman of the Vilei district executive committee. Together with other specialists, they promptly go to the place and assess the situation, draw up acts and decide on the amount of payments. Deputy Chairman of the Vilei District Executive Committee Alexander Katovich said that after leaving for the site, the commission saw that the annex was destroyed when the house fell:

- We also saw the rebuilt roof. On the spot, we found that the destruction that was on some load-bearing structures, was long before the emergency. The hostess had not paid attention to this before. They took measurements. A defective act was drawn up, according to which then a specialized organization was compiled to restore damage caused in an emergency.

Speaking about whether the practice is mandatory when a citizen who has not insured his house needs to pay funds, whether it is decided by the commission and on what criteria such a decision is made, Alexander Katovych stressed that any individual and legal entity has the right to apply.

- After receiving a request for consideration of reimbursement of funds, we take into account such factors as the availability of insurance, social and financial situation. Next, a commission considers the application taking into account these data and a decision is made on the amount of compensation from the amount that we calculated according to the defective act. In view of the emergency, we have considered the appeal of Martha Gurman. She did not ask for financial assistance, but asked for a calculation to repair the damage. We worked according to the instructions, so we made a calculation and gave her an answer that it is necessary to contact the district executive committee with an account where she needs to transfer funds.

Martha Gurman thanked both the district executive committee and the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the assistance provided.

- The amount is fine. I planned to go to court with this amount, plus moral damage, because we suffered a lot morally. Basically, I'm fine with it. The only thing is that the village council is on the sidelines again. There was a tree on his plot, which they had to take care of, as well as the whole territory, she says. Was there an emergency? Rest assured they'll help you! To sum up, this is all a coincidence. Martha Gurman only on Monday, August 3, took the documents to the house. On August 5, according to the chairman of the village executive committee, she received a call about a tree. And on the night of August 7 - a hurricane, as a result of which a tree fell on the house. And during those four days, Martha Gurman didn't have time to insure her home. They did not help him, they did not help him, they helped him. Once again, the local authorities are responsible for the trees in the village.

In this case, the executive board. And the statement, if the tree is, in your opinion, suspicious and is located in a public area, you need to write there. Specialists will go to the place and determine whether it is an emergency, after doing the work. You can cut down a tree on your own plot without obtaining special permits or approvals. None of us are immune from natural disasters. We all know that there are hurricanes in Belarus. And maybe you should take a closer look at trees that are too close to homes and power lines. If an emergency occurs, be sure to help you. And there are mechanisms for that. And they're definitely not at TikTok. We can solve the problem. For example, one appeal to local authorities. Repeat the program see tomorrow, September 15, at 10:10 — and it will be at 19:30 on the “First information”. Do not miss, your voice will be heard, and it will definitely reach the addressee.