How rich is Donbas? The Ukrainian coal and mineral hub that Putin wants to end the war
Following the summit of Vladimir Putin and Alaska, Donald Trump reported that Ukraine’s leader on Saturday (August 16th), Putin’s Donetsk and Luhansk proposed the freezing of the façades of Donbas, according to a source of Donbas, as well as by Donbas.
However, in his latest statements, Zelensky rejected the idea of abandoning Donbas, a collective term for Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
If so, Moscow would have had almost all Donbas, a region discussed since Russia’s first invasion in 2014.
Why is Donbas important?
Donbas. Donets is the industrial power center of Ukraine extending along the Donetsk and Luhansk regions for the coal basin. Ukraine has wide coal reserves that fuel most of the energy network and steel production.
Before the war, the metallurgical and mining region made the key driving force of the Ukrainian economy.
“Donbas control gives Russia a great economic and military advantage, El says Elina Beketova, a man in the European Policy Analysis Center. “This is not only the sources, but a castle line built by Ukraine for years. If it falls, Russia can be deeper from the west.”
According to Wall Street Journal’s chief Foreign reporter Yaroslav Trofimov, Putin’s third time to invade Pinky in exchange for Pinky promises to surrender the fortifications of North Donbas, Ukraine to protect Ukraine, will not be willing to protect the South Korea.
How rich in Donbas?
Donbas is extremely rich in natural resources, which makes it an important economic and strategic center for Ukraine. According to the 2025 CIRSD “Mineral Wars” report, Donbas and Crimean regions host important coal deposits, natural gas areas and critical minerals.
Moscow, months after Russia’s occupation in 2022, controlled the mineral and gas assets of Ukraine over $ 12.5 trillion. Only Donbas includes more than 56 percent of Ukraine’s hard coal reserves among the largest in the world and worth about $ 12 trillion.
Lithium (important for batteries and green technologies) for green energy and defense sectors is rich in critical minerals such as tantal, cesium and stronium.
Beyond the wealth of minerals, Donbas also plays a very important role in agriculture, water resources maintain agricultural operations in southern Ukraine and supply the Crimea, a region that suffers from chronic water shortage.
A region under siege
Since 2014, Russia has constantly settled its attitude. Today, about 88 percent of Donbas is occupied by the forces of Moscow, including almost all Luhansk and three -quarters of Donetsk. Ukraine still has a region of approximately 6,600 km2, but violent Russian attacks continue around cities such as Pokrovsk.
War devastated Donbas’s coal industry. Only in 2014, production fell more than 22 percent compared to the previous year.
Nevertheless, the region remains at the center of Moscow’s ambitions not only for its economic output, but also for its geography. Defense lines in Donetsk have long been prevented from progressing to the center of Ukraine.
