Late at night, Anton Telegin made his way to a large coal mine near Ukraine’s eastern front line, using the cover of darkness to avoid Russian drones. His mission was to collect wages for himself and his fellow miners, a routine task at the end of each month. However, this trip, just after Christmas, felt different. Russian troops were close to the mine, and Telegin feared it could be his last visit after 18 years of working there. Recent months had seen escalating attacks by Russian forces.
Just two days before, a strike had knocked out the mine’s electricity substation, halting production. Some miners began to leave, packing their belongings, including towels and shampoo from the changing rooms where they cleaned off soot after long shifts.
“People were packing up, already saying goodbye,” Telegin, 40, recalled.
Since Christmas, Telegin has not returned to the mine. Now in Kyiv, he learned that the facility had been closed. Metinvest, the company that owns the mine, confirmed the shutdown on Tuesday as the fighting intensified.
The closure of the mine, located near the city of Pokrovsk, marks the end of Ukraine’s last active coal mine producing coking coal, essential for steel production. This mine was crucial for the country’s steel industry and, by extension, its war efforts.
Metinvest had offered pay raises to miners who continued working despite the risks. To reach areas closest to the front lines, workers had to navigate miles of tunnels for protection from attacks. Frequent shelling caused blackouts, often trapping miners underground for hours.
“There is constant shelling, and it’s very close,” said Maksym Rastyahaev, head of a mining unit, speaking after a shift just before Christmas. “Only the most resilient workers have remained.”
The mine’s closure is expected to significantly impact Ukraine’s economy. Steel production is projected to drop from 7.5 million tons this year to under 3 million tons next year, according to Oleksandr Kalenkov, head of Ukraine’s steelmakers’ association. The fallout will affect trade, as metal and steel products were Ukraine’s second-largest exports last year, reduce tax revenues, and deprive the military of crucial materials for armor production. “The impact, in all its aspects, is tremendous,” Kalenkov said.
The mine near Pokrovsk is not the first to be lost to Russian forces, which have destroyed much of eastern Ukraine’s industrial base. However, its story is one of resilience. After a decline in production following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, coal output had rebounded to 3.2 million tons in 2023, nearly returning to prewar levels. Many residents had returned to Pokrovsk that year, hopeful for a Ukrainian victory.
For the local community, the mine had been an economic lifeline. In 2023, Metinvest employed about 4,500 people at the facility, many of whom had worked there for most of their lives. Yurii Nesterenko, 35, who had worked at the mine for a decade, said, “I’m a miner. I don’t know how to do anything else. All I know is how to mine coal.”
The pay was good, and the mining facilities reflected the company’s care. The mine had flower beds, fountains, and an Orthodox chapel, providing miners a peaceful retreat to pray.
However, by late summer 2024, the danger became clear. Russian advances had intensified, forcing a mobilization that drained the mine’s workforce. Some women were hired to replace conscripted men. Even more concerning, the mine lay in the path of Russia’s push to flank Pokrovsk, a key military hub.
“Everyone hoped Ukrainian soldiers would hold the line,” said Vyacheslav Dryha, an engineer who left the mine in the fall. Some employees began closely monitoring the front lines.
In late September, Russian strikes killed four female workers in just five days—two at a laundry station and two at a bus stop. The deaths sent shockwaves through the staff, leading many to flee with the growing exodus from Pokrovsk. Russian forces had advanced to within 10 miles of the city.
From that point on, attacks on the mine became more frequent. Some miners chose to drive their own cars to work, avoiding drone attacks. The mine’s shaft No. 3, located in the village of Pishchane near the front, came under regular shelling.
By early December, shaft No. 3 was too dangerous to use. Miners switched to another shaft further west, traveling through a series of tunnels to reach the coal faces. They would return on conveyor belts carrying freshly extracted coal.
The job was perilous. Power and ventilation systems often broke down due to shelling, forcing evacuations. Yet, miners felt safer underground, in the nearly 2,000-foot-deep tunnels, protected by the earth itself.
The mine’s continued operation was vital for Metinvest, which used the coking coal to produce steel, essential for both the war effort and Ukraine’s economy. The steel was used to produce railways for transportation and protective equipment for soldiers, including armored plates for the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.
“We’re like a second front, working for the victory,” Telegin said.
But by mid-December, it became clear that this second front was collapsing. Russian troops had advanced to within a mile of shaft No. 3, raising concerns they might capture it and use the tunnels to flank Ukrainian forces. In response, miners and military personnel worked together to drill holes beneath the shaft to place explosives.
Around December 20, the shaft was destroyed. “Everything collapsed, and now it’s all rock,” Telegin said.
Metinvest management, speaking anonymously, confirmed explosives had also been placed at two other shafts further west, near the villages of Kotlyne and Udachne, still under Ukrainian control. It is unclear whether these shafts have already been detonated.
Production at the mine had plummeted, from 7,000 tons a day in the summer to just over 2,000 tons by mid-December. The Christmas Eve strike on the substation was the final blow, causing the mine to shut down completely.
Kalenkov warned that the closure of the mine will strain Ukraine’s economy, making it difficult and expensive to import the necessary coking coal. The situation will also affect defense production, particularly for items like the Patriot system’s armor.
“The loss of the mine definitely hinders Ukraine’s combat capabilities,” Kalenkov said.
Many of the remaining 1,000 miners have relocated to cities farther from the front, such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. Some have found new jobs, while others face uncertain futures.
Rastyahaev, 40, who spent half his life working at the mine, said leaving was “very painful.” As he spoke, he had not heard from management about the mine’s future.
“Honestly,” he said, “I think it’s the end.”
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