Moscow uses the Kerch Bridge to transport stolen minerals from the occupied territories.
Points of attention
- By stealing minerals from Ukraine, Russia seeks to destroy its economy and increase its own economic indicators.
- Ukraine is losing significant resources due to the Russian occupation, which threatens its industrial economy.
- Ukrainian territories are now temporarily under the occupation of Russia, which is actively exporting minerals with the help of transport networks, reinforcing this with military ties.
Russia is stealing minerals from Ukraine
As noted in the summary, Ukraine's authorities have long reported Russia's theft of resources. Ukraine has iron ore, coal, titanium, uranium, manganese, gold and lithium deposits.
These are resources that are almost certainly in demand by Russia, but are potential targets as Russia seeks to destroy Ukraine's economy by cutting off its access and destroying its infrastructure.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine — 04 July 2024.
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According to British intelligence, one of the reasons Russia wants to improve transport networks in the occupied part of Ukraine is because it wants to extract more Ukrainian minerals.
A Russian occupation official in the Zaporizhia region previously stated that continued modernization and construction of road and rail transport links with Russia would improve communication routes not only for military logistics, but also for the export of grain and minerals.
To the south of Dniprorudne in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, Russia continues to extract minerals, taking out the railway by rail. Trains go through the Crimea, the Kerch Bridge to Russia. This activity is not without risk, as the trains must move through areas where Ukrainian partisans, who have already claimed responsibility for the attacks, are known to operate, the British Ministry of Defense emphasises.
Russia occupied significant mineral deposits in Ukraine
At least $12.4 trillion worth of Ukrainian energy deposits, metals and minerals are now under Russian control.
In addition to 63 per cent of Ukraine's coal deposits, Moscow confiscated 11 per cent of its oil deposits, 20 per cent of its natural gas deposits, 42 per cent of its metals, and 33 per cent of its rare earth and other critical mineral deposits, including lithium.
The worst-case scenario is that Ukraine loses ground, no longer has a strong commodity economy, and becomes more like one of the Baltic states, a nation unable to sustain its industrial economy. This is what Russia wants. To weaken us, said Stanislav Zinchenko, executive director of the GMK economic analytical center.
