Russian military takes control of Europe's largest coal plant
(Baonghean.vn) - The iDNES (Czech Republic) newspaper reported that the Avdeevka chemical and coke plant is the epicenter of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the Donbass region. The Ukrainian armed forces are said to no longer have enough strength to protect the place known as the "black heart" of Donbass.
Ria Novosti quoted an analysis in the Czech Republic's iDNES newspaper saying that the chemical and coke plant in Avdeevka was previously considered the "pearl of the industrial empire" of Rinat Akhmetov - Ukraine's richest tycoon. Mr. Rinat Akhmetov's giant coke plant has become the focus of a new Russian attack. How long will Ukraine be able to defend it?
Since early October, the Russian army has demonstrated that it is capable of regaining the initiative on its own again and has finally taken control of the city on the outskirts of Donetsk.
The Russian “pincers” are tightening more and more. According to analysts, Russian troops are advancing to the northwest and northeast of the city.
One of the main targets of the Russian offensive is the coke plant, located on the northwestern outskirts of the city of Avdeevka - known as the "black heart" of the Donbass region. For more than eight years, Ukraine has controlled this city, turning it into a fortress.
Control of this area is not only of great tactical importance for Russia, but also of symbolic importance. The coke plant is located on a hill, from where it allows control of the southern areas of Avdeevka. Russian control of this area would complicate the situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Avdeevka Coke and Chemical Plant was built 60 years ago. Now a large industrial complex has become a battlefield, similar to the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol, or the Azot Chemical Plant in Severodonetsk. Before the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict (February 2022), the Avdeevka Coke Plant employed 4,000 people, the enterprise produced almost a third of all coke in Ukraine and was considered one of the largest plants in the coal industry in Europe.
The coke plant was attacked shortly after the uprising in Donbass in 2017. However, even as fighting continued, Metinvest Group invested hundreds of millions of hryvnia in repairing and modernizing the plant, and thus the enterprise continued to operate. The Avdeevka Coke Plant produces 2.45 million tons of coke, in addition to benzene.,coal tar and ammonium sulfate.
Production was halted after Russia began its special military operation. The evacuation of workers was accelerated. The last workers left the plant on November 7. Now only Ukrainian soldiers remain in the maze of coke ovens, conveyor belts, cooling towers and water plants. Soldiers can also take refuge in a vast underground system. According to a report four years ago, there are 11 chemical silos under the Avdeevka Coke Plant.
The question is what price Ukrainians are willing to pay to defend the city. Oleg Sentsov, a resident of Avdeevka, said: “Personally, I do not see the loss of control of the city as a serious problem. A similar situation happened in Bakhmut. The problem is not the loss of control of the territory, but the loss of people if we fight incorrectly.”
