Russia Advances on Pokrovsk: Ukraine Fears Losing Vital Coal Mine
Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Relentless pressure by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the armed forces of Ukraine was recently witnessed by the fall of Ugledar (Vuhledar).
Since then, other smaller areas have fallen under the control of the armed forces of the Russian Federation – and indigenous regional Russian armed allies. Hence, Pokrovsk is coming under intense pressure, setting off alarm bells in the steelwork sector in Ukraine.
Reuters reports, “Around 10 km west of the town center lies a mine that produces a special type of coal needed to produce coke, an essential element in steelmaking – which is second only to agriculture in earning hard currency for Ukraine.”
The leader of the steelmakers association in Ukraine, Oleksandr Kalenkov, warned the 7.5 million metric tons of steel will fall “to 2-3 million tons” if Russia takes Pokrovsk.
Kalenkov continued (if Pokrovsk falls), “There will be imports, of course, but there won’t be enough imports.”
The BBC reports, “Since Russia captured the city of Avdiivka in February, the speed of its advance in the Donetsk region has been swift. At the start of October, it captured the key city of Vuhledar (Ugledar).”
Retired General Harald Kujat (Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2002 to 2005) recently said (concerning Pokrovsk), “Ukraine is still holding its position but it is only a matter of time before this city falls… The situation of the Ukrainian armed forces is critical and it is becoming more and more critical day by day – and this is despite the massive material and financial support from the West.”
Foreign Policy reports, “Pokrovsk, a once-vibrant city of 80,000 people, is the object of a Russian encircling move that began in July and is creeping within miles of the city as every day passes. The city has served as a key logistics and transportation hub for Ukrainian military operations in eastern Ukraine and is the gateway to conquering the rest of Donetsk Oblast—and potentially on to even bigger prizes such as Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city before the war.”
If Pokrovsk falls to the Russian Federation, then pressure will increase on the political elites in Kiev (Kyiv).
The BBC reports, “… if Pokrovsk falls, it could open a gateway to the Dnipro region – just 32km (20 miles) from Pokrovsk…”
If so, the situation for the armed forces of Ukraine in this contested region will become even more problematic.
Nothing is certain in war. However, the current momentum is with Russia and indigenous regional Russian armed allies. Also, political uncertainty in America – along with the weakening of the political leaders of France and Germany because of internal politics – bodes ill for Ukraine.
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi’s website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK