With the occupation of Ukrainian territories, the russian federation gained control over the powerful industrial cluster of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhiaregions. While some industrial plants were completely destroyed as a result of the invasion (for example, in Mariupol), then factories and mining enterprises in the Zaporizhzhia region or in the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which were occupied since 2014, for the most part, were not damaged and retained their production capabilities. Moreover, by seizing the iron ore deposits of the Zaporizhzhiaregion, the russians received a closed cycle for the production of various types of steel and products made from it. Of course, the Kremlin did not miss the opportunity to use it.
In the summer of 2022, the Southern Mining and Metallurgical Complex, operating on occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, began supplying steel to the russian federation. This company is the managing superstructure of the following enterprises: Enakievo Metallurgical Plant, Makeevka Metallurgical Plant, Makeevkoks, Yasinovatsky Coke Plant, Komsomolsk Mining Plant, Alchevsk Metallurgical Plant and Stakhanov Ferroalloy Plant.
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SMMC is owned by Evgeniy Yurchenko, who, according to some sources, is a businessman affiliated with Medvedchuk. They helped him take the enterprise away from another fugitive oligarch from Ukraine, Kurchenko, back in 2021, before the full-scale invasion. The directors at the mentioned factories are party members from United russia and are actively campaigning for elections.
Already in 2022, the Alchevsk Metallurgical Complex sold 2 billion rubles worth of products to Uralvagonzavod (22.5 thousand tons of rolled metal products). Other steel plants also joined the production of steel for the russians: Enakievsky and Makeevsky. Some russian sources write that in 2022 the products were used to produce railway carriages.
However, there are serious doubts that the supply of billions of rubles worth of steel from different plants on the occupied Donbass was used to produce carriages alone at one of the largest enterprises of the russian military-industrial complex - Uralvagonzavod. In the same 2022, the supply of ore from the occupied part of the Zaporozhye region, from the Zaporozhye iron ore plant, was established. Thus, russia is literally plundering Ukrainian mineral resources to continue the war against Ukraine.
The cooperation between Uralvagonzavod and SMMC continued in 2023; in the summer, representatives of the company again came to Alchevsk. On November 17, a new cooperation agreement was concluded, probably for 2024. Final statistics for the year were not published, but representatives of enterprises announced an increase in production.
In addition, in December 2023, a thick sheet workshop opened at the Alchevsk plant. It is plate steel that is used in the production of armor plates for tanks. Now we can be sure that Donbass steel is definitely used for the production of tank armor, and not just for some of their elements.
So, the russians are exploiting Ukrainian resources and turning the industrial potential of Donbass against Ukraine. There are probably other examples of the exploitation of Ukrainian resources and production facilities in the occupied territories, but the case of SMMC and Uralvagonzavod is the most eloquent. In addition, the participation of these enterprises in the military-industrial complex chain makes them completely legitimate tar\gets for possible missile attacks from Ukraine.
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