News
Latest News
news bulletin
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Other News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Beirut
27
o
Bekaa
24
o
Keserwan
27
o
Metn
27
o
Mount Lebanon
24
o
North
28
o
South
26
o
Live
Video
Audio
Schedule
shows
العربية
watching now
Ahmar Bel Khat Al Areed
SUBSCRIBE
Home
Notification
Live
Video
Audio
shows
Beirut
27
o
Bekaa
24
o
Keserwan
27
o
Metn
27
o
Mount Lebanon
24
o
North
28
o
South
26
o
News
Programs
The News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Programs
Series
Movies
Documentaries
Variety
Comedy
Talk Show
News Bulletin
Sports
Breaking News
Latest News
Highlighted News
Most Read
Videos
العربية
Watch the latest programs and the latest developments on your favorite screen
Shows
Join millions of followers
Who We Are
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Careers
Channel frequencies
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions
Ukraine coal propped up by miners who fled Russian occupation
World News
10-06-2023 | 06:30
High views
Share
Share
5
min
Ukraine coal propped up by miners who fled Russian occupation
Ukraine's energy sector is under attack.
Kyiv power stations have been targeted by cruise missiles, the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam has been breached and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is under Russian occupation.
Of the 89 coal mines that were in newly-independent Ukraine at the break-up of the Soviet Union, 71 are in the eastern Donbas region, now partly held by Russian forces.
But the remaining mines -- which power 30 percent of Ukraine's grid -- are working hard, thanks to an influx of new recruits fleeing the Russian-occupied east.
In the build-up to the war, some in Moscow argued Russia had a duty to defend Russian speakers in the Donbas from alleged persecution by Ukrainian nationalists.
But in February last year, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion and tightened its grip on the east of the country, many civilians fled west into Kyiv-held towns.
Meanwhile, mines in Russian-occupied areas or close to the frontline closed and some were flooded as power to their water pumps was cut.
Further inside Ukraine, there was another problem.
"When the full-scale war started a lot of miners from this area enlisted as volunteers," said Oleg Bilousov, chief engineer at a cluster of mines in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk.
Mineworkers who remained had to work double shifts to maintain production.
- 'Impossible to survive' -
"It was a hard time for the company and for the country," Bilousov said, describing how during four blackouts last year miners trapped underground had to be evacuated.
Relief for Ukraine's industry came from miners from the Donbas, men and women that Moscow had once tried to portray as a downtrodden minority cut off from their motherland.
Some of those kicked out of pits in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions headed to central Ukraine, finding secure employment and contributing to the national war effort.
"Many, many of those who were forced to move from the occupied area wanted to work for us," said Bilousov, adding that Donbas-born miners now make up a third of his 2,780 workers.
Under a landscape of rolling green fields splashed with swathes of red poppies, Ukraine's renowned fertile black earth gives way to even richer seams of black coal.
Under a towering headframe equipped with a powerful winch, a rusty steel lift lowers the miners down a 180-meter (590-foot) shaft.
Then the workers clamber into closed metal trucks behind an electric locomotive and are carried down more than a kilometre of galleries to the coalface, 370 metres down.
Here, miners like 37-year-old Artyom, who studied in now occupied Donetsk, describe the mix of political and economic pressures that drove many west.
He laughed off Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin's claim to be the Donbas' protector.
"It's all fake," he said, his face smeared with sweat and coal dust as he worked the morning maintenance shift.
Some of his friends fled to Russia and some like him into unoccupied Ukraine, but none now mine the eastern region's once rich coalfield.
"It's impossible to survive there. There's literally no jobs there. Living conditions are really bad, they don't get paid at all, or receive really little," he told AFP.
Still, even with the arrival of the Donbas miners, the pit is short of manpower. "Many of them are fighting now, some of them are mobilised," Artyom said.
Thankfully, the mine does not just rely on "manpower". Ukraine's wartime economy has seen women taking up posts that would once have been limited to men.
- 'I want to go home' -
This has been a lifeline for 36-year-old Vika, who fled war-torn Lysychansk in the Russian-occupied part of the Lugansk region with her two children, mother and husband.
Before the war, she had worked as a shop assistant in a grocery. Now she is a surface elevator operator in a hard hat and overalls, responsible for the lift to the mine.
"For us, the people who came from over there, can you imagine how it is to suffer from the mines being closed? Where can we work? After losing our homes, we lost our jobs," she said.
The mines are run by DTEK, Ukraine's biggest private power industry player owned by Donetsk-born billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, reputedly Ukraine's richest man.
Workers like Vika appreciate the steady salary and health insurance that comes with the job.
"Here I feel fine, even though I cannot speak Ukrainian fluently. It's not a problem at all," she said.
"Of course I would love to go home. But I don't have a home anymore, it's destroyed. I hope Ukraine gives me my home back, and maybe helps me rebuild it.
"I want to go home, and for home to be Ukraine."
AFP
World News
Ukraine
Energy
Sector
Attack
Kyiv
Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam
Zaporizhzhia
Nuclear
Plant
Russia
Occupation
Next
Trump says he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE as early as May
Recommended For You
d-none hideMe
0
News Bulletin Reports
13:12
Mixed signals from US envoy Tom Barrack: Lebanon-Israel mediation stirs politics; Hezbollah 'pushes back'
News Bulletin Reports
13:12
Mixed signals from US envoy Tom Barrack: Lebanon-Israel mediation stirs politics; Hezbollah 'pushes back'
0
News Bulletin Reports
13:00
US backs $100M Super Tucano support for Lebanon in key show of military aid
News Bulletin Reports
13:00
US backs $100M Super Tucano support for Lebanon in key show of military aid
0
World News
12:29
Emmanuel Macron calls on EU to 'defend European interests' in US tariff talks
World News
12:29
Emmanuel Macron calls on EU to 'defend European interests' in US tariff talks
0
World News
10:11
Iran says any nuclear deal must respect 'right' to enrich uranium
World News
10:11
Iran says any nuclear deal must respect 'right' to enrich uranium
Subscribe to our VOD
SUBSCRIBE
Our visitors readings
d-none hideMe
0
Middle East News
2025-06-22
Iran media reports 'massive' blast in Bushehr province, home to nuclear reactor
Middle East News
2025-06-22
Iran media reports 'massive' blast in Bushehr province, home to nuclear reactor
0
Israel-Gaza War Updates
13:00
Israeli political official accuses Hamas of sabotaging Gaza ceasefire talks
Israel-Gaza War Updates
13:00
Israeli political official accuses Hamas of sabotaging Gaza ceasefire talks
0
News Bulletin Reports
13:12
Mixed signals from US envoy Tom Barrack: Lebanon-Israel mediation stirs politics; Hezbollah 'pushes back'
News Bulletin Reports
13:12
Mixed signals from US envoy Tom Barrack: Lebanon-Israel mediation stirs politics; Hezbollah 'pushes back'
0
News Bulletin Reports
2025-06-27
Lebanon next? Elon Musk calls Lebanese president as Starlink eyes new market
News Bulletin Reports
2025-06-27
Lebanon next? Elon Musk calls Lebanese president as Starlink eyes new market
Videos
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2025-07-01
Massive fire erupts at unregulated dumpsite in Bchannine, Zgharta district
Lebanon News
2025-07-01
Massive fire erupts at unregulated dumpsite in Bchannine, Zgharta district
0
Lebanon News
2025-06-10
Clash between Lebanese Army and residents of Deir Qanoun Al Nahr results in injuries (Video)
Lebanon News
2025-06-10
Clash between Lebanese Army and residents of Deir Qanoun Al Nahr results in injuries (Video)
0
Lebanon News
2025-06-04
Mexico dedicates garden around Lebanese Emigrant Statue in Beirut to mark 80 years of diplomatic ties
Lebanon News
2025-06-04
Mexico dedicates garden around Lebanese Emigrant Statue in Beirut to mark 80 years of diplomatic ties
0
Lebanon News
2025-05-19
President Aoun to seek Egyptian support for Lebanese Army in detecting explosives and tunnels
Lebanon News
2025-05-19
President Aoun to seek Egyptian support for Lebanese Army in detecting explosives and tunnels
0
Lebanon News
2025-05-15
LBCI Exclusive: US steps up pressure on Hezbollah, Morgan Ortagus details sanctions and vision for Lebanon's future
Lebanon News
2025-05-15
LBCI Exclusive: US steps up pressure on Hezbollah, Morgan Ortagus details sanctions and vision for Lebanon's future
0
Lebanon News
2025-05-11
Kuwait rolls out official welcome for Lebanon's President Aoun – video
Lebanon News
2025-05-11
Kuwait rolls out official welcome for Lebanon's President Aoun – video
0
Lebanon News
2025-05-11
Security incidents temporarily disrupt voting in several Akkar and Minieh-Danniyeh centers
Lebanon News
2025-05-11
Security incidents temporarily disrupt voting in several Akkar and Minieh-Danniyeh centers
0
News Bulletin Reports
2025-05-09
EU ambassador says 'we are not just donors, but genuine partners to Lebanon': Insights from exclusive LBCI interview
News Bulletin Reports
2025-05-09
EU ambassador says 'we are not just donors, but genuine partners to Lebanon': Insights from exclusive LBCI interview
0
Lebanon News
2025-04-23
US envoy Morgan Ortagus hails Lebanese diaspora, says country stands at a crossroads
Lebanon News
2025-04-23
US envoy Morgan Ortagus hails Lebanese diaspora, says country stands at a crossroads
Most read
d-none hideMe
24 hours
7 days
Month
1
Lebanon News
08:09
Tom Barrack says US mediating undisclosed Lebanon-Israel talks
Lebanon News
08:09
Tom Barrack says US mediating undisclosed Lebanon-Israel talks
2
News Bulletin Reports
13:12
Mixed signals from US envoy Tom Barrack: Lebanon-Israel mediation stirs politics; Hezbollah 'pushes back'
News Bulletin Reports
13:12
Mixed signals from US envoy Tom Barrack: Lebanon-Israel mediation stirs politics; Hezbollah 'pushes back'
3
News Bulletin Reports
13:00
Surveillance towers on the southern border? Lebanon weighs UK plan amid Israeli concerns
News Bulletin Reports
13:00
Surveillance towers on the southern border? Lebanon weighs UK plan amid Israeli concerns
4
News Bulletin Reports
12:56
Lebanon-Syria tensions rise as Damascus steps up pressure over detainee issue
News Bulletin Reports
12:56
Lebanon-Syria tensions rise as Damascus steps up pressure over detainee issue
5
Lebanon News
10:26
Israeli army claims strike killed Hezbollah member in Lebanon's south
Lebanon News
10:26
Israeli army claims strike killed Hezbollah member in Lebanon's south
6
Lebanon News
12:47
US envoy Tom Barrack clarifies Syria remarks: Not a threat to Lebanon, but a vision for coexistence
Lebanon News
12:47
US envoy Tom Barrack clarifies Syria remarks: Not a threat to Lebanon, but a vision for coexistence
7
News Bulletin Reports
13:00
US backs $100M Super Tucano support for Lebanon in key show of military aid
News Bulletin Reports
13:00
US backs $100M Super Tucano support for Lebanon in key show of military aid
8
Middle East News
09:31
Syrian, Israeli officials to meet in Baku: AFP
Middle East News
09:31
Syrian, Israeli officials to meet in Baku: AFP
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use
cookies
to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More