the anguish of Ukrainian miners trapped underground after a Russian strike

It is around 11 a.m. Monday, October 10, when a Russian missile falls on the Kryvyi Rih power plant in central Ukraine. The current remains cut for 18 hours in several sectors of the city. And 82 minors find themselves trapped underground, on the outskirts of the city.

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“Of course everyone was worried. We are in a city close to the front line”, says Pavel, who is part of the group stuck 527 meters underground, in the dark, for nearly five terrible hours. The elevator being immobilized, “our team leader asked us to go to a ventilated security room and we waited. We insulted our enemies”continues Pavel, who was thinking of his family. “Especially that the bombs don’t fall where my son, my wife, my mother and my father are!”he prayed. “My situation comes after.”

The miners were pulled up using a pneumatic traction system installed shortly before the start of the war and requiring no electricity. The safety protocol was applied to the letter, welcomes Sergueï Sapsoï, the director of the mine. “Despite the risks, it is absolutely necessary that the mine works and that the company runs”, he insists. But in spite of the missiles, it is necessary to protect the men and to maintain a minimum of activity in the basements. “I was worried about all the minorsadmits Sergei Sapsoi. This is the first time we have had an accident like this. Water must be drained continuously. Otherwise the level rises and the galleries are flooded. Afterwards it is always possible to exploit the mine again, but it takes time. You have to pump and it’s expensive.”

>> Ukraine prepares to live ‘without electricity, without heating and without gas’ after strikes on its energy infrastructure

A cost and consequences on the environment. Because in Kryvyï Rih, the houses are close to the mines and in the event of flooding, the groundwater can be quickly contaminated.