Lost Donbas

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Resolutely rejecting proposals to recognize land to the Russian president Vladimir Putinespecially the controversial Donbas region.

Donbas, including Donetsk and Luhansk, is the industrial heartland of Ukraine, where coal mining and steel production are the main drivers of economic growth. Ultimately, control of mines and factories in the region will give Moscow a strong leverage over post-Kiev economic survival.

“Our position is clear: ‘Zelenskyy and Eu fired the cedes Ukrainian land to Russia

“Donbas has both military advantages and huge economic resources, making it a high-value target for the Kremlin,” explained Elina Beketova, a researcher with the European Center for Policy Analysis.

“Donbas alone has a large amount of coal reserves, especially anthracite, which is crucial to energy and metallurgy,” Bektova said. “Of courses of the 114 mines in the Donetsk region, only 15 mines are still valid.” Because the war was flooded, it was destroyed or impossible.

Coal tells only half of the story.

Perhaps the jewel in the crown is salt: the Soledad Salt Mine, with an estimated 4.5 billion tons of rock salt, which is the largest reserve in Europe. These mines and the Artyomsol plants, the largest salt producer in Europe, fell into Russian troops in 2022.

A soldier was walking in front of the damaged power line and on December 20, 2022, on Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, damaged the Artyomsol Salt Iner mine infrastructure due to hostilities. (Viktor Fridshon/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images)

Beketova stressed that natural gas may be the most important resource in the region in the long run.

“The region includes Yuzivka gas from Donetsk and Kharkiv Ompasts, with potential reserves of 4 trillion cubic meters, which is a direct challenge to Russia’s energy advantage, which may be another reason why Moscow wants to take full control of the region.”

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“In addition to coal, salt and natural gas, the occupied territory of Donbas and nearby Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are rich in gypsum, chalk, marble, granite, sand, sand and clay,” Beketova said.

Currently, Russian troops occupy about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, mainly in the eastern and southeastern regions, including Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. During the Kremlin War, these areas have been under partial or full control at all times.

As of August 11, 2025, Russia’s territorial control over Ukraine, a map of key threat projects from the Institute of War and AEI. (Key Threat Projects for War Institute and AEI)

For Kiev, Donbas is more than just a controversial reason – it is an economic lifeline, with its coal, salt and gas reserves that can help the funds recovery of countries that have already suffered heavy post-war debt burdens.

The latest joint assessment from the United Nations World Bank, European CommissionMoreover, the Ukrainian government estimates that Kiev will face a $524 billion post-war reconstruction over the next decade.

Housing accounts for nearly $84 billion of the long-term reconstruction and recovery demand, followed by $78 billion needed by the transportation industry and $68 billion in the energy sector.

View of the destroyed and abandoned town of Maryinka in the Donetsk region on April 1, 2025. （Stringer/AFP/Getty Images）

Zelenskyy told reporters next to a European Commission reporter on Sunday that Putin’s repeated attempts have failed to capture the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine for 12 years.

Grace Mappes, an analyst at the War Institute, noted that the region recognizes the region also means giving up Ukraine’s “fortress belt”, a defensive line strengthened by Donetsk since 2014.

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Putin now seeks to recognize this critical defensive position after trying not to occupy this strategically vital terrain. The Russian army currently has no means of rapid envelopment or infiltration, obviously doing nothing, and there is no guarantee that the battle will not resume. ”

Ukrainian soldiers participated in a military training exercise at an undisclosed location as the war between Russia and Ukraine has been on March 6, 2024 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine for the past two years. (Jose Colon/Anadolu/Getty image)

Mappes added that Ukraine’s massive investment in strengthening its “fortress belt” through defensive structures, logistics hubs and defense industrial facilities emphasizes its central role in the country’s military resilience.

She added: “Putin’s proposal is not a compromise, but a avoidance of years of bloody movements, which is a necessary measure to seize the fortress belt and other forces in Donetsk.”