Having razed eastern Ukraine into a battered and barren landscape, Moscow is now plundering through the vast mineral wealth beneath the soil where generations of Ukrainians once lived and stood.
Once prosperous towns and cities are now turned into wastelands in eastern Ukraine – as a result of the fighting, infrastructure and housing in cities and villages are being destroyed, and businesses are ruined.
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Meanwhile, the Russians have seized deposits, factories, warehouses, and railway infrastructure.
Following the mass population exodus, houses once inhabited by Ukrainians are now replaced with Russian settlers, and what remains of the enterprises now serves the Russian defense sector, with Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth becoming Russia’s prized trophy.
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Ukraine is a country rich in minerals, but more than 30% of these resources are in territories now occupied by Russia. US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in these resources – particularly rare earth elements – but for that, Trump will have to help Ukraine reclaim them from the Russians.
Pavlo Lysianskyi – a Donbas native, a former mine worker, and a long-time analyst of economic processes in the region – knows the realities all too well.
In an exclusive interview, Lysianskyi, who also works as the director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Security with a PhD in political science, told Kyiv Post what Russia has managed to capture in the Donbas, how it terrorizes the local population, and about its attempts to replace them with Russians.
“By 2022, the annexation process had begun.”
What is happening in the occupied territories now? And how does this differ from what happened in the occupied Donbas and Crimea between 2014 and 2022?
The main difference is that in 2014, the Russians didn’t know what to do with the occupied territories. However, by around 2016, they had begun implementing policies aimed at preparing these areas for further invasions into Ukraine. They started “passportization” – the mass distribution of Russian passports – and began drafting legislative acts, recognizing these documents, and making similar changes in the education system.
By 2022, the annexation process had begun. Russian administrations were formed, collaborators were abandoned in favor of direct Russian representatives, and the introduction of Russian governance began. If they simply looted enterprises before 2022, stripping them for scrap metal, they started integrating them into branches of the state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec after 2022 to accelerate defense industry productions.
“Many were deceived into thinking it was just an exercise, but days before the invasion, they were subjected to forced conscription and sent to the front lines.”
Tell us about industries in the occupied territories. How are the Russians utilizing it?
In 2014, they looted the best plants, such as the Luhansk Cartridge Factory and Donetsk’s Topaz plant, by dismantling and relocating them to Russia. Several dozen mines remained operational, but over the past year, only seven continue to function. The local industry is in rapid decline, and the enterprises that remain active will never be able to expand their capacities due to sanctions.
There is also a demographic crisis – people are fleeing the occupied territories, and much of the adult male population, including skilled workers, were forcibly mobilized into the Russian army during the early phase of the full-scale invasion. Many were deceived into thinking it was just an exercise, but days before the invasion, they were subjected to forced conscription and sent to the front lines.
For example, the Progress mine in Torez is now recruiting workers from Russia because no locals are left to staff it.
Trump said the US is interested in developing Ukraine’s subterranean resources, hinting that Ukrainian minerals could be valuable to the free world. What rare earth materials did Russia seize in the Donbas, and how might this strengthen them?
[Editor’s note: Trump referred to rare earth elements in his remark. There are 17 rare earth elements: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium, along with scandium and yttrium.
Lithium, though highly sought after, is technically not considered a rare earth element. Other elements, such as beryllium, are few in number, though they are not rare earth elements by definition.]
There are still vast reserves of rare earth materials in the occupied territories, and Russia intends to use them for its defense industry. This poses a global problem, as it could significantly strengthen Russia …
In total, Russia has seized:
- 478 deposits in the Luhansk region
- 684 in the Donetsk region
- 199 in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions
Most of these are coal deposits, plus various types of clay and sandstone deposits, but many are strategic materials and rare metals, including 148 deposits of germanium, nine of lead and zinc, 23 of iron, 20 of mercury, 16 of copper, two of gold, two of silver, five of uranium, two of aluminum, one of beryllium, two of lithium, three of molybdenum, one of vanadium, one of niobium, three of titanium, two of zirconium, three of manganese, one of cesium, and two of tantalum.
Russia is moving quickly – it has already held a tender to develop a gold deposit in the village of Bobrykove, near the town of Antratsyt in the Luhansk region. It is also constructing a large plant in Solikamsk, in Russia’s Perm region, to process rare earth materials extracted from Ukraine.
How many rare earth resources remain in unoccupied Ukrainian territory?
Approximately the same amount, but most are concentrated in the Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions – dangerously close to the front line. For instance, near Pokrovsk, there is a significant lithium deposit crucial for batteries and various high-tech equipment.
Northern Donbas had not only mines and mineral deposits but also numerous heavy industry enterprises …
And most are now under occupation, though they are in a poor state.
In the Donetsk region, Yenakiieve Steel Works operates at just 10-15% of its normal capacity, the chemical giant Stirol Horlivka is idle, and both the Avdiivka Coke Plant and salt maker Artemsil in Bakhmut have been destroyed.
In the Luhansk region, the Severodonetsk Azot Plant has been destroyed, as well as the Lysychansk Oil Refinery.
The entire industrial sector is in decline. However, Rostec is attempting to repurpose whatever remains for the Russian military-industrial complex – for example, by integrating the Stakhanov Railway Car Building Works in the Luhansk region into its operations.
“People who lived in the occupied territories under Ukrainian control are now viewed as ‘undesirable’ by Russia.”
Tell us about the treatment of the population in the occupied territories.
The population has shrunk dramatically, and many who wish to return home are prevented from doing so by Russian authorities.
Initially, Russia used these territories to distribute passports and justify its invasion by claiming that “millions of Russian citizens” needed protection. Now, these same people are no longer useful to Russia. In fact, Moscow has passed a law effectively stripping those who received Russian passports between 2017 and 2023 of their citizenship. Those wishing to reapply must undergo a humiliating process, often at the risk of losing their property, including real estate.
People who lived in the occupied territories under Ukrainian control are now viewed as “undesirable” by Russia – even if they initially supported the invasion. They are being forcibly relocated to Russia or pushed into Ukrainian-controlled territories while ethnic Russians take their place.
“Russia has transformed its society and economy into a war-driven machine.”
The Russian administration is also actively preventing the return of displaced persons, aiming to confiscate “abandoned” property. Their goal is long-term: to erase the historical memory of Ukraine in these territories.
Can we expect Russia’s policies to change after Putin? Can a peace agreement be long-lasting?
This doesn’t depend solely on Putin. Russia has transformed its society and economy into a war-driven machine.
Changes to the Russian federal education system in 2015 and 2021 illustrate this shift. In 2015, graduates were expected to be “educated patriots who love their country.” By 2021, they were expected to be “young patriots ready to give their lives for the interests of the motherland.”
This ideology is deeply ingrained, including in the occupied territories. Even after Putin, the Russian leadership will likely continue its aggressive policies. Any ceasefire will simply be used as a pause to regroup and prepare for further attacks on Ukraine.
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