Following a coal molecule from its mining in Siberia, through processing and transformation into steel in Ukraine, and to final sale in Germany provides a unique glimpse into the ways technology, governance, and foreign relationships interact against the background of tightly woven production chains cutting across conflict lines and official borders (with Russia and EU member states). This example allows us to see how the physical characteristics of coal allowed it to be used –materially and symbolically – not only by Russia but by key Ukrainian economic actors in a way that would indelibly mark Ukraine’s future political development, through the way it supported a certain brand of politics in Ukraine and encouraged the survival of an ultimately unviable economic model in the Donbas region.
