A coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, the sole domestic supplier of coking coal to the steel industry, continues to operate as Russian troops approach, an industry source said on Friday.
Ukrainian military analyst DeepState said Russian troops were less than 7 km (4.4 miles) from Pokrovsk’s outskirts. The mine lies 10 km (6.2 miles) west of the town, a strategic supply hub, in the opposite direction to the advancing Russian forces.
“The mine continues to operate at the same volume as in recent weeks,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
It’s unclear at what point the mine’s owner, metallurgical group Metinvest, might be forced to halt operations and evacuate staff.
The authorities have been carrying out a mandatory evacuation of civilians from Pokrovsk since Sept. 24 and about 11,500 people remained in the city as of Dec. 2.
Russian forces are advancing in the eastern Donetsk region at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion and Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said last month he would strengthen the eastern front with reserves, ammunition and equipment.
Ukraine’s steelmakers’ union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons next year from the 7.5 million expected in 2024.
Producers hope to find alternative sources of coking coal from elsewhere in Ukraine should the Pokrovsk mine be seized by Russian troops, but imports would inevitably be needed – hiking costs.
Ukraine increased steel production by 25.7% in January-October to 6.5 million tons, the steelmakers’ union said. Ukraine traditionally exports a major part of its metal products, mainly to the European Union.
(By Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Mark Potter)
