Russian forces seize one of Ukraine’s largest lithium deposits in Donetsk, Le Figaro reports

Russian forces have taken control of the town of Shevchenko in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, home to one of the country's most promising lithium deposits, according to a report by the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The town of Shevchenko is located just three kilometers from the border with the Dnipropetrovsk Region, near Velyka Novosilka, which fell under Russian control in January of this year. Le Figaro notes that the lithium deposit was discovered in 1982 and spans approximately 40 hectares (close to 100 acres). For several days, the site has been under Russian military control, as it lies on the eastern outskirts of the town.

Lithium is extracted from the mineral spodumene, and according to Ukrainian geologists, the concentration of spodumene in the ore from Shevchenko reaches up to 90%. This makes it the only explored lithium deposit in Ukraine where lithium is present in an easily extractable form. Aside from lithium, rare metals such as tantalum, niobium, beryllium, rubidium, and cesium have also been found in the area.

Ukrainian scientists estimated before the 2022 invasion that the country held up to 500,000 tons of lithium reserves — more than Portugal, which hosts Europe’s largest known deposits.

Two of Ukraine’s four lithium sites are located in the country’s western regions and remain under Kyiv’s control. However, the other two — Shevchenko and Kruta Balka, near the Sea of Azov — are now held by Russian forces. Lithium is a key component in the production of batteries for electric vehicles and other devices, and global prices for the metal have surged in recent years.

From an economic standpoint, Le Figaro writes, developing Ukraine’s lithium industry remains a complex task: hard rock deposits like those in Ukraine require far more investment than lithium extraction from brine lakes, such as those commonly found in South America.

The paper also notes that U.S. President Donald Trump once proposed that Ukraine repay shipments of military aid with deliveries of strategic raw materials. In the spring of 2025, Washington and Kyiv signed a cooperation agreement on mineral resources, although its terms remain unclear. Meanwhile, according to Le Figaro, Trump did not rule out the possibility of sharing Ukraine’s resources with Russia, and in phone calls with Vladimir Putin, the American president has reportedly discussed the potential “joint development” with Russia of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.