Coal miners stuck in the middle of Ukraine’s war – U
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, a pro-Russian rebel stands guard as miners prepare to go into an elevator at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian rebels often threaten to stop sending coal to Kyiv but the Ukrainian government could simply cut off the electricity generated at a power station on its side. Without that power, shafts will get flooded and could be lost entirely as an energy source. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, miners ride in an elevator at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Chelyuskintsev, a government-owned mine west of the rebel-held city Donetsk, was closed for nearly three months before being re-opened in late September. Two workers have been killed in Grad missile strikes on the premises since the war began in April – and one artillery strike even hit the mine’s office building. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, miners ride in an elevator at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s eastern coal mines lie smack in the middle of its war, and as the country’s finances spiral out of control, the mines become an even more vital resource of jobs, energy, heating supplies for winter and fuel for the entire Ukrainian economy. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, Svetlana Momot, a 30-year-old chief surveyor, smiles inside the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s eastern coal mines lie smack in the middle of its war, and as the country’s finances spiral out of control, the mines become an even more vital resource of jobs, energy, heating supplies for winter and fuel for the entire Ukrainian economy. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, miners stand in a shaft at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Coal output in the Donetsk region dropped 20 percent to 22 million tons January through September compared to the same period last year. That has forced the Ukrainian government to import coal from abroad – 1 million tons is under contract from South Africa – an unprecedented step for this energy-rich nation. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, a miner stands in a shaft at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s eastern coal mines lie smack in the middle of its war, and as the country’s finances spiral out of control, the mines become an even more vital resource of jobs, energy, heating supplies for winter and fuel for the entire Ukrainian economy. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, a man rides past a Soviet era WWII monument at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s eastern coal mines lie smack in the middle of its war, and as the country’s finances spiral out of control, the mines become an even more vital resource of jobs, energy, heating supplies for winter and fuel for the entire Ukrainian economy. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, coal is loaded onto a truck at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Heavy fighting and electricity blackouts have paralyzed the work of dozens of mines in the region, whose capital, Donetsk, was founded in the late 19th century by an industrialist from the former coal powerhouse of Wales. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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In this photo taken Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, miners take a break in a shaft at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. About 55 percent of all the country’s coal mines are located in a relatively small area controlled by the pro-Russian rebels who declared independence in May. The front line between the warring parties separates the mineral wealth of the Donetsk region from Ukraine’s energy plants and grids, endangering both the region’s future and Ukraine’s entire energy security. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Glistening black sweat rolls down the spine of a beefy miner as he jackhammers bedrock along the shaft at the Chelyuskintsev coal mine in Donetsk, Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland.
Vitaly Khristich is one of hundreds of miners who each day brave the artillery fire that flares between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops to go down — deep, deep down — into the local mines. The mild-mannered man in his late 30s with a shy smile does this even though he has not been paid for months, even though his hometown has been torn up by war, and even though no one is really certain what government will eventually rule this territory — the central leadership in Kyiv or the separatists who want to join Russia.
One kilometer (half a mile) up above the ground, the entrance to the pit is guarded by armed rebels, pro-separatist graffiti adorns the fences and Ukrainian government firing positions dot the nearby fields.
“You think about how to get to the mine, and not get caught in shelling, and then how to get back home,” said his colleague, 30-year-old chief surveyor Svetlana Momot. “It’s really scary.”
Ukraine’s eastern coal mines lie smack in the middle of its war. As the country’s finances spiral out of control, the mines have become an even more vital resource of jobs, energy, heating supplies for winter and fuel for the entire Ukrainian economy.
About 55 percent of all the country’s coal mines are located in a relatively small area controlled by the pro-Russian rebels who declared independence in May. The front line between the warring parties separates the mineral wealth of the Donetsk region from Ukraine’s energy plants and grids, endangering both the region’s future and Ukraine’s entire energy security.
Heavy fighting and electricity blackouts have paralyzed the work of dozens of mines in the region, whose capital, Donetsk, was founded in the late 19th century by an industrialist from the former coal powerhouse of Wales.
The rebels often threaten to stop sending coal to Kyiv but the Ukrainian government could simply cut off the electricity generated at a power station on its side. Without that power, shafts will get flooded and could be lost entirely as an energy source.
As of mid-October, only 24 out of the 93 coal mines in the region were operational. Cut off from electricity for weeks, many mines got flooded. At least two of them are beyond repair, another 10 are fully flooded and seven others risk becoming that way, according to Ukrainian officials and the mining trade union.
At the nearby Trudovskaya mine, workers say it’s going to take at least two more months to pump out all the black water lapping the rough shafts.
Coal output in the Donetsk region dropped 20 percent to 22 million tons from January through September compared to the same period last year. That has forced the Ukrainian government to import coal from abroad — 1 million tons is under contract from South Africa — an unprecedented step for this energy-rich nation.