One of the worst nightmares of Ukrainians is becoming a reality. The Russian invaders have launched more than 40 missiles, whose range shakes the national economy. But Moscow is also hitting factoriesamong them those dedicated to the production of weapons, a field in which kyiv has proven to be at the forefront even in times of war. AND is left with cities in which there are silos, mines and factories. Everything together, everything wrong.
Conquering just a few cities can put Ukraine through from being a large exporter to an importer and the country’s maintenance costs will increase significantly, predicts the Polish newspaper .
Evacuations have already begun in several of the attacked towns. The Russians who hit on DonbásAbove all, they are beginning to achieve their goals and inevitably approach the siege of Pokrovskfor which they have been fighting for many months. Now they boast that they are before the key moment of the operation“that will bring the Ukrainian economy to its knees“, indicates this medium.
The Russian forces, surrounding Pokrovsk from the south and the north, already reached the town of Udachnoye and They did not hesitate to boast about this successalthough at first glance it might seem that it was another conquest of a series of small towns that they managed to reach. “It’s different here”indicates the newspaper.
Because? This is the explanation. “The fighting began at the facilities of the largest coal company in Ukraine. The address of the Pokrovsky mine is located near the village of Udachnoye, where the fighting began,” the Russian TACC news agency gleefully reported, while reporting that attacks on the mines had begun. mine shafts.
Apparently, this time the Russians are not far from the truth, it is not propaganda, because, a day before, the authorities of Metinvest BV -the owner of the mining complex-, They decided to stop coal mining. It was ordered evacuation of all workers and miners. The plant is almost stopped.
“All the windows stopped working now. Nothing is produced there, only work is done on the surface”the agency reports, citing Ukrainian sources. Steel production in Ukraine will fall drasticallyis what is expected.
The consequences
The suspension of mining in the country’s largest Ukrainian mining complex now means serious economic problems. Ukraine, who was a magnate of the industry steel before the war and depended mainly on the coal coking extracted from the mines around Pokrovsk, will have big problems to find a replacement source.
Only in 2023, Pokrovsk mines were responsible for supplying the industry with 3.5 million tons of coke. Its loss will result in a significant decrease in the production of steel, necessary to supply weapons to the country in struggle.
According to the calculations of the Union of Steelworkers of Ukraine, In 2024 the country managed to produce 7.6 million tons of steeland the shutdown of the Pokrovsk industry is expected to reduce production to approximately 2-3 million. tone. Steel producers hope that this coal will be replaced by imported coal, but no one is under any illusions that such an operation will increase costs.
According to data presented by the Ukrainian DeepState, which follows the fighting on the front, The Russians have already managed to capture a town where mining was previously carried out, i.e. Pischahne. Fighting is now taking place around the villages of Kotlyne and Udachne.
At the same time, the owners of the mines occupied by the Russians nor they intend to wait idly for the situation to evolve. As Forsal reported, the owner of the mine in Donbas, Metinvest, has already taken action to save the future of this sector of the Ukrainian economy. “Metinvest management is implementing an emergency plan to guarantee supply of key raw materials (coal and coke) for the production of steel in the Group’s metallurgical plants (Kamet Steel and Zaporizhstal). These activities include the increasing supplies of coking coal of the Group’s United Coal Company in the US, taking advantage of the accumulated coal reserves and arranging additional supplies of raw materials from external suppliers“, informa Metinvest.
