Ukraine launches Minecraft recreation of occupied city  

On March 21, United24, the Ukrainian government platform established to raise funds for Ukraine, announced a new world called “Minesalt” for the Java Edition of Minecraft. Apparently, this surprising addition to Minecraft was developed in cooperation with French development team Endorah. 

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🏘 Minesalt is an innovative project developed by French developers Endorah in collaboration with UNITED24. This Minecraft-based game recreates the salt mines of Soledar, a city in the Donetsk region, which has been at the center of fierce fighting and, since February 2023, occupied by Russia. The game features UNITED24 ambassadors as characters, including notable figures like Richard Branson, Paul Nurse, Misha Collins, Oleksandr Usyk, Scott Kelly, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Katheryn Winnick, and Ivanna Sakhno. The goal of the project is to remind the world about the war in Ukraine and raise funds to rebuild the Velyka Kostromka school Russia destroyed. Video: UNITED24

♬ оригінальний звук – Ukraine

Minesalt recreates the rock salt mines that exist in Soledar, a city in the Donetsk region of east Ukraine. The city was known as one of the largest rock salt-producing areas in Europe and was responsible for over 90% of Ukraine’s salt production. However, Soledar was caught up in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

Fighting in Soledar lasted for nearly a year between 2022 and 2023, with Russia declaring the city occupied on January 16, 2023. Consequently, Ukraine has lost the rock salt mines in the area. 

Now, the official Ukrainian fundraising platform United24 has teamed up with French devs Endorah to recreate Soledar in Minecraft as an in-game world called Minesalt. According to United24, donations raised through this project will be used to rebuild the Velyka Kostromka school that was destroyed by Russian missiles. At the time of writing, the donation total had already reached over 623 million USD. According to United24’s website “Recreating the mines in Minesalt is an opportunity to tell the world about not only their history, but also the struggle for Ukraine’s freedom.” 

Minesalt allows you to wander around Soledar, recreated in Minecraft’s distinctive blocky style. You can choose to leisurely take in your surroundings or take part in a time attack to collect 140 salt crystals. According to United24’s Reddit post, the world features 16 locations and 500km of tunnels. In the mines, you will also find celebrities and famous Ukrainians in the form of NPCs, who will teach you about Soledar and the salt mines’ history. 

Interestingly, Minesalt also has a competitive element. There is a leaderboard for players who take on the crystal-collecting time attack. The top players who successfully collect crystals the fastest and answer three questions correctly will receive an Xbox and a pack of salt named “SOLEDARITY” as a prize. According to the leaderboard, the current number one player has completed the challenge in 2 minutes and 40 seconds.  

Minesalt is currently playable in the Java Edition of Minecraft. You can connect by selecting Multiplayer in Minecraft and entering “mc.minesalt.net” in the Server Address box.  

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-03-26 12:45 JST)