As a result of the invasion, Russia expanded its control over Ukrainian deposits of coal, oil, gas and metals. The Washington Post writes about this, citing an analysis conducted by the Canadian company SecDev.
According to these data, the total value of minerals that are located in the territory occupied by Russia is estimated at no less than 12.4 trillion dollars.
According to SecDev estimates, in addition to 63% of coal deposits, Russia has seized territories that contain 11% of oil deposits, 20% of natural gas deposits, 42% of metals and 33% of deposits of rare earth and other critical minerals in Ukraine.
Part of the resources was seized when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Donbass that began at the same time. After a full-scale invasion in February of this year, these figures have increased significantly.
According to SecDev and Ukrainian mining and steel industry leaders, the Russian Federation now controls:
- 41 coal deposits,
- 27 - natural gas,
- 14 - propane,
- 9 - oil,
- 6 - iron ore,
- 2 - titanium ore,
- 2 - zirconium ore,
- 1 - strontium.
Ukraine has one of the world's largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, lithium deposits, as well as large coal reserves. The total value of minerals is estimated at tens of trillions of dollars.
At the same time, even before the full-scale invasion in 2022, most of the mines in the Donbas stopped working because they were flooded. According to experts, as of November 2019, 39 coal mines were flooded in the region, 38 of which are located on the territory not controlled by the Ukrainian government.
