COAL MINES IN UKRAINE
Some of these photos of coal miners were taken in Western Ukraine, in the North of Lviv, near Novovolensk and Chervonohrad.
Guided by Sacha a mine chief, I went in the depths of two mine pits where miners were working on their knees under 70 cm of height, 500 meters deep inside the ground.
I also went to the South of Donetsk, Donbas area in eastern Ukraine.
Hennadiy, a pit worker guide for more than 25 years, has been my. Just like every miners working in the “South of Donetsk Basin” mine in Vouhledar (meaning “the donation of coal”), he is a member of a brigade of 15 miners (3,000 people work in this mine). Hennadiy works 6 hours a day during 3 days, then he as a day off. The mine has more than 90 km (55 miles) of galleries and is 800 meters (2 624 feet) deep. When I went back from the first pit Hennadiy asked me “So, what do you think about what you’ve just seen?” and I answered “I think you are not workers to work in such conditions, you are true heroes. I am very happy to have visited a coal mine, but now I’m glad to be out of this Hell!” He retorted “It’s not Hell, it’s my workplace…!”