Located just less than 20km from the town of Pokrovsk, which has seen an intensification of fighting, the Pokrovs'ke coal mine provides Ukraine’s metallurgical industry with coking coal.

The industry is vital for Ukraine’s economy, providing its second-largest source of foreign currency, after agriculture.

Trade data shows exports of steel and related products amounted to just under $2 billion from January to August 2024, with most of that production going to the EU.

Head of the Ukrainian Metallurgists Association, Oleksandr Kalenkov, told Reuters: “We could make up to 7.5 million metric tons of steel by the end of the year and, for next year, we saw an increase in production to over 10 million.

“But if we lose Pokrovsk, then... we will fall to 2-3 million tonnes.”

The endangered mine, lying outside Pokrovsk and belonging to the Metinvest group, was recently upgraded, with new coal faces opened.

As its coal mines and steel plants in Ukraine have regularly been the victims of Russian drone attacks, the Metinvest group, controlled by Ukrainian industrial magnate Rinat Akhmetov, has had to invest some $320 million annually in rebuilding its under-fire plants.

Diversification of its investment outside Ukraine has also been part of Metinvest’s strategy to keep its EU customers supplied.

The company is investing in a low-carbon green energy steel mill in Italy, which is to produce around 3 million tonnes of steel per year.

In addition, Metinvest was named as one of the potential investors in the Częstochowa steel mill in southern Poland, where creditors filed for bankruptcy this summer.