Ukraine's Coal War: Sales to Loyalists Fund Separatist Fighters
- West dependent on regions outside its control for energy
- Illegal pit mines supplement lost shipments from producers
This article is for subscribers only.
Just 200 yards from where Malaysia Airlines MH17 crashed last year in rebel-held eastern Ukraine, commerce is winning over war. Miners working in an illegal, hand-dug pit are extracting coal that’s destined to be sold to loyalists in the west.
It’s a rare accord for the two sides, still embroiled in a 19-month conflict that has killed more than 8,000 people and engendered sanctions and boycotts. The trade benefits everyone. The central government gets coal for its depleted reserves and pro-Russian separatists in the east, where most of the country’s deposits are located, get some of the infusion of cash.