“On the occupied territories ... preparations are underway to mothball the mines of the once most powerful association ‘Sverdlovantratsyt’ (Sverdlovsk has been renamed Dolzhansk). As of February 15, only water pumping will remain in operation”, - Head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration Oleksii Kharchenko reported on social media on January 27.
Three mines are slated for closure at once: “Sverdlova”, “Dolzhanska–Kapitalna” and “Kharkivska”. The official reason given by the occupiers for this decision is the “unprofitability of the enterprises.”
“For the residents of Dolzhansk, such a decision means unemployment, population outflow—primarily of young people—economic collapse, and a коммунальный collapse, since the mines have always been part of the city’s infrastructure”, - Kharchenko notes.