The trunk of a unique mine near Pokrovsk was blown up so that the occupiers would not get into the tunnels — NYT

The mine near Pokrovsk is the only one in Ukraine where coking coal, necessary for the steel industry, was mined. According to the coke chemical association Ukrkoks, in 2023 Ukraine produced about 3.5 million tons of coke, using exclusively coking coal from Pokrovsk.

According to the material, the Metinvest company offered a salary increase to the miners who remained in Pokrovsk, despite the approach of Russian troops and shelling. To get to work, miners passed through kilometers of tunnels that protected them from shelling. Due to power outages caused by shelling, they could be trapped underground for hours.

The NYT notes that the mine was an economic artery for the region. In 2023, Metinvest employed approximately 4,500 people, many of whom had spent most of their working lives there.

“The salary was high, and Metinvest’s mining facilities showed a sense of care. This summer [під час візиту журналістів] the mine boasted flower beds, fountains and an Orthodox chapel with golden icons and intricate ceilings where miners could pray in peace,” the article said.

The first signs of danger appeared at the end of the summer of 2024 against the background of the renewed offensive of the Russian invaders. At the end of September, as a result of shelling, four mine workers were killed, and many employees began to evacuate from Pokrovsk. Since then, shelling has only become more frequent. Some miners preferred to drive to work instead of taking the bus to avoid enemy drones.

The trunk of mine No. 3, located closest to the front — in the village of Pišchane — was also subjected to regular shelling. At the end of December, the miners switched to the descent into the mine through another shaft, located to the west, at a distance of 9.5 km to the coal pits under shaft #3. The journey there took two hours, and the miners traveled back on conveyor belts that transport freshly mined coal.

According to the NYT, by mid-December, the occupiers had approached trunk No. 3 at a distance of 1.6 km. Fearing that the Russians might seize it and use the tunnels to bypass Defense Forces positions, the miners, in cooperation with the military, began drilling wells under the mine for explosives. Around December 20, the mine was blown up.

“Everything collapsed, and now there are only stones,” said miner Anton Telegin, who worked at the Pokrovsk mine for 18 years.

Metinvest’s manager said on condition of anonymity that explosives were also planted at two other mines of the company – near the villages of Kotlyne and Udachne.

Many of the approximately 1,000 miners who remained in Pokrovsk until the end are now in cities further from the front line—Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. Some got new jobs in factories, while others are unsure of their future.

On January 14, Metinvest announced that the work of the Pokrovsky coal group was suspended due to the change in the situation on the front line, the shortage of electricity and the deterioration of the security situation.

In the event of an emergency, the company planned to replace Ukrainian raw materials with coking coal from the American United Coal Company (is part of the Metinvest group), use of increased coal reserves and additional coal and coke from third-party suppliers.

In 2022, steel production in Ukraine fell by 70.7% to 6.3 million tons. In 2023, production decreased to 6 million tons. The association of metallurgists assumed that if the mine is closed, production may drop to 2-3 million tons in 2025 from 7.6 million in 2024.