As Russian forces advance in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast, they are approaching the strategic mining town of Pokrovsk, a vital hub for the country’s steel industry. The potential capture of Pokrovsk, located just 9.7 km from a major coking coal mine, could represent a significant military gain for Russia and a severe blow to Ukraine’s industrial output, according to The Kyiv Independent.
The mine, owned by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest, is Ukraine’s largest coking coal producer and one of the largest in Eastern Europe. It supplies essential coal for coke production, critical for steelmaking—Ukraine’s second-largest source of foreign currency after agriculture.
If the mine is lost, Ukraine’s steel output could plummet from a projected 7.5 million metric tonnes this year to as low as 2-3 million tonnes. Oleksandr Kalenkov, head of Ukraine’s steelmakers’ association, emphasized the impact: “If we lose Pokrovsk… we will fall to 2-3 million tonnes,” he told Reuters on October 16.
In 2023, approximately 3.5 million tonnes of coke were produced from coal sourced from Pokrovsk alone, according to Anatolii Starovoit, head of the Ukrkoks coke association. He stressed the reliance of Ukraine’s steel sector on this mine, stating, “We don’t know where to get coal if Pokrovsk is seized.”
The loss of the mine would also have broader implications. Cities like Pokrovsk and Zaporizhzhia depend heavily on the metallurgy sector, with thousands of local jobs tied to companies like Metinvest. The region is already grappling with workforce shortages, electricity outages from Russian strikes, and disrupted supply chains, as reported by Reuters.
An unnamed source within Ukraine’s steel industry indicated that producers are actively seeking alternative coking coal sources domestically. However, if the Pokrovsk mine is lost, imports may become necessary, raising production costs and diminishing the competitiveness of Ukrainian steel in global markets.
