Tracing patterns in the snow with his finger, Mykola Hrechukha sketched out a vision for Ukraine’s new lithium mine. He described a deep central shaft branching into a network of side tunnels.
“The lithium is good everywhere. The biggest concentration is at a depth of 200-500 meters,” he said. “We should be able to extract 4,300 tonnes a day. The potential is terrific.”
For now, however, the site remains untouched. The deposit lies beneath a vast sloping field that, during the communist era, was used for growing beetroot and wheat.
The planned entrance to the mine is located in an abandoned former-Soviet village, Liodiane, which is now overgrown with acacia and maple trees.
The only resident is a security guard who lives on the 150-hectare site inside an old Gaz-53 truck. Wild boar and even a wolf occasionally wander through the area.
The lithium deposit is situated in central Ukraine’s Kirovohrad region, approximately 350 km (217 miles) south of Kyiv. Solar-powered scientific instruments monitor air temperature and seismic activity.
In 2017, a Ukrainian company, UkrLithiumMining, purchased a 20-year government license to exploit the site for $5 million. Geological surveys confirm that the ore, known as petalite, can be refined into lithium for batteries used in electric vehicles and mobile phones.
According to U.S. President Donald Trump, these underground reserves should now belong to America. Last week, newly appointed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Kyiv and presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with an unexpected demand—half of Ukraine’s mineral wealth, including its oil, gas, and key infrastructure such as ports.
The $500 billion request was framed as “payback” for previous U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, according to the White House.
Zelenskyy refused to sign the agreement, making it clear that Ukraine needed security guarantees before negotiating over its vast natural resources, which constitute about 5% of the world’s total mineral reserves.
He also pointed out that the U.S. had provided $69.2 billion in military aid—significantly less than what Trump was demanding—and noted that other allies, such as the European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom, could also be interested in investing.
Speaking on Wednesday, just before Trump publicly called him “a dictator,” Zelenskyy stated that he would not “sell Ukraine away.” He expressed willingness to negotiate “a serious document” that would ensure Russia could not attack Ukraine again.
Despite the diplomatic standoff, U.S. and Ukrainian officials were working to move past the tensions and finalize an agreement, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Trump’s ultimatum has been widely criticized, with commentators calling it “mafia imperialism” and a “colonial agreement,” likening it to European powers carving up Africa in the 18th century.
“It’s as if we lost the war to America. This looks to me like reparations,” said Volodymyr Landa, a senior economist at the Centre for Economic Strategy in Kyiv.
He noted that Ukraine’s overall mineral reserves are valued at $14.8 trillion, including lithium, titanium, and uranium, as well as coal, steel, iron ore, and undersea shale gas. Many of these resources remain untapped due to either feasibility issues or political instability.
Some of Ukraine’s deposits are also located in Russian-occupied areas. The country’s lithium reserves—estimated at around 500,000 tonnes—are among the largest in Europe. One deposit is in Kruta Balka, near the southern port of Berdiansk, which was captured by Russian forces early in the 2022 invasion. Another is in the Shevchenkivskyi district, a frontline region in eastern Donetsk oblast, recently seized by Russian troops.
The Liodiane deposit is one of only two lithium sites still under Ukrainian control.
According to Landa, Ukraine’s minerals sector presents “high risks and high rewards.” He noted that foreign investment in the country’s resource extraction dates back to the 19th century, when French, Belgian, and British engineers developed Ukraine’s coal industry.
The city of Donetsk—annexed by Russia in 2014—was originally named Hughesovka, after Welsh businessman John Hughes, who founded a steel plant and several coal mines there.
Local residents near Liodiane support the construction of a lithium mine but strongly oppose handing over its profits to Trump. “This idea is too much,” said Tetiana Slyvenko, a local administrator.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy
“He wants to take resources from a country in a time of war. How are we supposed to live? We have children. It’s as if the U.S. seeks to deprive us of our economic potential. It would finish us off, just like America did with Red Indians [Native Americans].”
Slyvenko described how Russian rockets frequently fly over her village of Kopanky in the Malovyskiy district on their way to targets in western Ukraine. In December, she filmed three streaking across the sky from her garden.
“I said a few bad words. The rockets were flying very low. We are tired. Our emotions are understandably strong,” she said. Just two weeks ago, a Shahed missile crashed into a nearby field, not far from the valley where the lithium deposit is located.
The neighboring villages of Kopanky and Haiivka have a combined population of about 300, mostly elderly residents. Taking a break from ice fishing on Kopanky’s frozen lake, 72-year-old Stanislav Ryabchenko said he hoped the mine would bring young people back to the area and create jobs.
“What Trump suggests is blackmail. He knows we can’t push the Russians out on our own. We need joint production, not a takeover,” he said, holding up two carp he had just caught.
Denys Alyoshin, chief strategy officer at UkrLithiumMining, stated that his company is actively seeking foreign investment. Building a modern mine that meets EU environmental standards would require $350 million, he said, acknowledging that construction could only begin once the war with Russia ends.
Ideally, he added, Ukraine would process the ore domestically into a concentrate before refining it into battery-grade lithium carbonate.
Trump has claimed he wants a share of “rare earths,” referring to a class of 17 critical minerals. However, Ukraine has few of these. The U.S. president appears to have confused them with rare metals and other critical materials such as lithium and graphite.
Alyoshin also dismissed the notion that quick profits could be made from lithium mining. “People think you put a shovel in the ground and dig up money. We have been working on this project for five or six years. With investment, we can begin production in 2028,” he said.
Back in Liodiane, the only sounds were birds chirping. During the 1960s and 70s, the village was home to agricultural workers employed in a Soviet collective farm, or kolkhoz.
It had two streets, a handful of clay-and-straw houses, and a community center called the “Club.” The last resident passed away in 1983. Before the electric vehicle boom, lithium was primarily used in the ceramic and glass industries. Soviet geologists discovered the deposit half a century ago but deemed it unworthy of extraction at the time.
Hrechukha, the local representative for the mining company, noted that a skilled workforce is readily available since a uranium mine in Smolino, just 20 km away, was decommissioned last year.
He emphasized that his firm welcomes international partners but only within the framework of international law. He also expressed admiration for Elon Musk, whose Tesla business heavily depends on lithium. “We are interested in a long-term client,” he said.
As for Trump’s demands, Hrechukha was skeptical. “I don’t think U.S. soldiers are going to be coming here anytime soon,” he said, surveying the snowy field. With a chuckle, he added, “It’s more likely aliens from another planet will turn up.”
