Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest BV has halted some operations at Ukraine's sole mine producing coking coal near Pokrovsk because of proximity to advancing Russian troops along the front line of the war with Russia, an industry source said on Thursday.
The source said shaft no. 3 at its mine had stopped operations as it was closer to fighting in the area, some of the fiercest along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in the 33-month-old war.
Two other shafts, further away from the clashes, remained in operation, the source said.
Metinvest issued a statement saying some of its operations had been halted. It said the company, together with local authorities and the Ukrainian military was monitoring the security situation in the area.
Ukraine's steelmakers' union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons next year from the 7.5 million expected in 2024.
The city of Pokrovsk is one of the main targets of Russian forces advancing across the Donetsk region in Ukraine's east.
The popular war blog DeepState, which maps front lines using open sources, said on Wednesday that Russian forces were as close as 3 km (1.8 miles) from the southern outskirts of the city.
