Conflict in Ukraine's Donbas Region: The Geology Behind the Headlines

Lindsey Graham said the quite part out loud about the natural resources in eastern Ukraine and how much money is involved.

It is not always what you gain from conquest, but what you deprive your competition of.

I dont think those resources play major role for Russia, i mean Russia has immense resources. Primarly it is strategic question.

Thank you for these in-depth explanations of the geological factors of the Ukrainian conflict with Russia. Also we can add, the exceptional riches of the Ukrainian topsoil, which contributes vastly to the country's wealth with the production of wheat and maize and other type of cultures. The name of this particular topsoil is, "Tchernozium". It is a large band of earth stretching from the northwest of the country and going well into Russia to the southeast, and measuring around 1500 km in length, with a width of around 200 km to 400 km.

The resources in that area are secondary to the strategic long term military and commercial use of the warm water ports..

Just found your channel today. Im impressed with your technical content (im not a geotech but have a lay interest) and your professional manner with not even a hint dramatics... you got a new sub... Your geo take on the conflict adds a very important extra dimension to the discussion. And this conflict is anything but 1 dimensional. I personally think Donbass geo resources werent the primary driver for Russia however it would def be in their interest to restrict a neighbouring LNG competitor to the EU..... of course the US bombing of the Nordstream supply to Germany/EU after Russia rolled into Ukraine would make it a hell of a lot easier to be the LNG pipeline of choice to EU (and Blackrock et al etc).... taking out the competition for Ukraine LNG makes sense now I am not of the opinion that Russia wants to take all of Ukraine and then roll all over the EU. Thats nothing but fear-mongering dramatics and plays into the hands of certain interest groups.... and well trained anti-commie haters enmass... I'd be more interested in the rare earth metals and who wants that very sensitive resource more considering the China supply chain and their response to illegal sanctions.. personally i dont blame them for responding in kind.... What about the mineralogy of the volcanic shield band.. surely there's gold and copper etc etc that's normally associated with volcanic hydrology? I suspect that's got to be a significant player in the equation? I will be binging on your content now thanks. Really like your work. Any interest in discussing New Zealand geology????

I suspect it is a major deposit of natural hydrogen that was discovered. It has all the hallmarks of hydrogen potential (a failed rift overlying cratonic basement similar to South Africa, Kansas-Nebrasca, Mali, northern Pyrenees and Lorraine Basin in France, coal etc). Russia has been keen on hydrogen longer than other nations and supported abiotic oil/gas origen more than in west. They are more pragmatic than others because they place more emphasis on geology and science. In the west we have political scientists making decisions which leads to bad decisions. Your explanation for why all the fighting makes more sense. Thank you.

Paul, I have watched all your videos and I must say, you are an outstanding educator 👏 Your enthusiasm, clarity and delivery make for a very engaging and informative experience I wish my college professors have had half the game you do Can’t wait for new content. 😀

I don't know how many of you have actually seen this region. I have. There are what looks like little mountains everywhere. These are slag heaps, mainly from coal mining. Even before the war, there was very little coal mining so most of these slag heaps are unchanged for the last 30 years. This area with the exception of the cities is mainly agricultural and sunflowers are the main crop. There are also large gullies and small ridges so those areas are scrub brush and are not farmed. In climate, this is like Kansas and Missouri. hot and dry in the summer but surprisingly cold in the winter. Prior to the war Donetsk was the most prosperous and modern city in Ukraine. but 10 years of continuous shelling by Ukraine has driven half of the civilians away, mostly to Moscow where there are good jobs. Almost all of the small villages had some sort of industry before the war,. Unfortunately the villages and small cities in what was and is now the combat line is total devastation, not a single house survived. Probably Mariupol will never again be a major steel manufacturing city and instead will be a city of tourism and small industries. That Azov steel plant was obsolete even before it was severely damaged.

Have been waiting for this explanation. Thank you.

Great easy to follow presentation, very informative.

In 2006 I served with a medical mission team in Donetsk, seeing a large number of residents as patients and interacting with our local support staff. This does not make me an expert on the region, but I did gain a sense of the people there. East of the Dnieper River everyone speak Russian. I have read of the mass starvation in that region during the 1930’s. Combining that with your excellent commentary on the oil workers moving there from Western Siberia, it seems that the former population had been replaced by people migrating from deeper inside Russia. We went through Deniepro-Petrovsk which is up on the shield east of the Donbas. The region between Donetsk and Deniepro held amazing agricultural land. Does not geology determine to some degree the quality of soil? I suspect Russia wants the Donbas and areas to its east for multiple reasons: to repatriate native Russians, to regain the agricultural zone for wheat and sunflower production, for the oil and gas, and as a strategic buffer from the West. I do not feel any of this justifies the resulting human tragedy. And all this is only my personal speculations.

Reports like this is why I spend so much time on Youtube. Thank you.

I find it interesting that coal gas and oil is found in an area that is so very old. It means that there was a huge amount of plant life in the history of early earth

Phantastic content. The missing puzzle piece. Now I understand.

Hello Professor Day, I love your videos so much! Thank you for covering the geology and science of Ukraine, which is a totally different way to understand the region than geo-politics! Professor, would you also please be able to cover the recent earthquake in Turkiye and Syria that took place Feb 2023, from the science and plate tectonics perspective, as we've learned from your video lectures? Thank you Professor Day, and stay safe!

what about rare minerals? (e.g. titanium, lithium etc)

Excellent analysis. Thank you very much!!!

YES! One of the first targets of Putin's 2014 incursion was Donetsk Airport which is right in the middle of this Orange Area that you are talking about. They have been fighting tooth and nail to hold their strategic advantage in this area. Not only is it pivitol as the hub of the battle line, it is the flank of any effort by Ukraine to retake the South Eastern part of Ukraine and protects the critical supply line to Crimea. As you say, the Gas Fields aren't as important to Russia as they are to Ukraine, but limiting Ukraine's resources is very important to achieving victory. This area is clearly pivitol to Russia's plans. It holds the keys to all of their objectives, both to the North, and to hold onto Crimea. Your presentation has just firmed up my strategic evaluation of their objectives that I arrived at from analysing their battlefield movements and tactical priorities. Russia wants everything from K'yiv on down to Rostov on Don for all that fossil fuel. By removing that from what's left if Ukraine's economy, the will starve Ukraine into submission. In the South, you have all that steel production and the Crimean resort area for all those rich oligarchs. So apparently, Putin is being honest about his peace proposal. "[Give us all your good lands, and we will leave the rest so you can farm, like a good little satellite country.]"

Thank you for this usful information. The geopolitical angle is much more important. The best analysis is provided by Prof. Sachs and Prof. Mearsheimer. Let there be peace in Ukraine.