UK condemns Russia’s ‘plunder’ of Ukrainian natural resources

The Russian authorities are “plundering” Ukraine’s natural resources by exploiting the invasion of the east of the country, the British Ministry of Defence denounced on Saturday in its regular daily intelligence report. The report, published on the Ministry of Defence’s social media account, said “Russia is stealing Ukraine’s natural resources” and specifically that “Ukrainian natural resources are being plundered by Russia with the Kremlin’s approval. Russia wants to destroy Ukraine’s economic potential.” It cites mines located in the “resource-rich region” of Dniprorodny, in the Zaporizhia region. “What they extract is transported to Russia for domestic consumption or export,” the statement noted. The UK believes that “Russia wants to destroy Ukraine’s economic potential by extracting its most valuable resources.” It stressed that “stealing resources from Ukraine encourages the consolidation of Russian occupation in these areas. 80 percent of Ukraine’s coal, half of its oil and 72 percent of its natural gas are located in Russian-occupied areas.”