So Artemovsk/Bahmut (population 70,000+) is literally put into ruins.
Sad story, but there is a silver lining. By an unbelievable incidence, the place is located in the area of Yuzivska gas field. So we know the location will be taken care of.
This does not seem to be in distant future, the visionaries anticipated the future a while back, in January 2013: Ukraine signs landmark $10 billion shale gas deal with Shell | Reuters.
Ukraine chose Shell last May as a partner to develop the Yuzivska field in the east of the country and regional councils there approved the production-sharing deal last week, removing the last hurdle to signature.
Ukraine is said to have Europe’s third-largest shale gas reserves at 42 trillion cubic feet (1.2 trillion cubic metres), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Well done, now the location is clear from infrastructure, people, obligations of sorts. Let’s get down to drilling.
BTW, the guy on the left on the picture above, Eduard Stavitsky, was famous for failing to take all valuables from his stash, when he escaped from Ukraine in 2014. Maybe he faced overweight, so had to leave a bit: $5M in cash, 42 kg of gold etc.
