Miners in occupied Donetsk Oblast are planning a protest over unpaid wages
Miners at several mines in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast may suspend work due to months of unpaid wages. An independent labor union is preparing notices regarding the suspension of operations at these mines.
According to the union’s co-chair, Oleksandr Vaskovsky, workers at several mines may begin submitting notices of work stoppages on September 18. This date coincides with Russia’s holding of another round of so-called elections in the occupied territories—the union views the mass submission of such notices as a potential protest action, in which workers will announce the suspension of work instead of participating in the elections.
According to Vaskovsky, wage arrears at some enterprises range from four to seven months. Authorities had previously promised to settle the debts by Miners’ Day, which was celebrated on August 30 this year, and later set a new deadline of September 10—both deadlines passed without any payments. Now, according to the union’s co-chair, the repayment deadlines are being pushed back to early 2027.
A separate issue concerns the operations of enterprises that do not mine coal but continue to perform necessary work underground: According to Vaskovsky, more than 10 mines in the Donbas are pumping water out of underground workings, even though their workers receive their wages irregularly.
Vaskovsky said that the staff of one mine is already prepared for a possible protest, and the union is in negotiations with two other enterprises. He is not disclosing the names of the mines, fearing that premature publicity will give the occupying authorities an opportunity to put pressure on the workers.
“If the miners are not intimidated and, instead of casting ballots, write mass notices of work stoppage, this will be a major political event with the potential for further action,” Vaskovsky said.
Separately, Dmitry Zimenkin, a journalist for the Russian publication *Izvestia*, published an anonymous letter from a miner in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, who stated that workers have not been paid their wages for anywhere from several months to half a year.
“We currently have four to seven months of unpaid wages. We are miners—we’ve tried everywhere, but it’s all been to no avail. The answer is always the same: there’s no funding,” the letter reads.
According to the author, he works at a company that provides mine dewatering services. Vaskovsky told ASTRA that he does not know whether the author of this letter is affiliated with a labor union.
After the letter appeared on social media, a resident of occupied Donetsk also wrote: According to her, her husband works at the “Chaikino” mine, which is currently under the control of Uglekom LLC, and tried to obtain a debt certificate to file a lawsuit but was denied. The woman claims that the company has been promising to pay off the debt since March, but keeps postponing the payment dates.
Source: Astra
Earlier in Dniprorudne, the occupiers embezzled miners’ wages totaling over 93 million rubles.
Earlier, Ukrainian intelligence reported that in the Orikhiv sector, Russian troops are wearing civilian clothing in an attempt to conceal their presence and evade strikes by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
