Ukraine closes unique coal mine near Pokrovsk
Source: Metinvest
The Metinvest company said on Friday it had to suspend operations in this coal mine near Pokrovsk as Russian troop intensified their offensive in this area. Relentless shelling and the risk of escalation prompted the company to evacuate key personnel and their families to safety.
The mine that got “Metinvest’s” some 50% of its coal output, has been the only mining site in the Ukrainian-controlled Donbas that produced coking coal, a vital material for steelmaking.
According to Oleksandr Kalenkov, president of “Ukrmetallurgprom,” the closure could spell trouble for Ukraine’s steel industry. “If Pokrovs’k falls, steel production could drop by half due to coal shortages,” he explained.
Over the past two years, Ukraine produced 6–6.5 million tons of steel annually, with 2024’s forecast rising to 7.5 million tons. However, loss of Pokrovs’k’s resources could slash production to 2–3 million tons.
Kalenkov’s earlier forecast was more optimistic – he argued steel production could bounce back to 12 million tons per year, but the current state of things disrupt these plans.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
In recent days, Moscow’s official rhetoric has been dominated by hysteria over the decision of…
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.