- Two people were killed and 13 injured after the strike on the plant.
- Energy and blast furnace facilities were damaged in the attack.
- The steelworks was previously hit by a Russian missile strike in 2022.
Russia’s missile war has hit one of Ukraine’s biggest industrial businesses, with ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the steel plant owned by Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, partially halting production after an overnight strike.
Two people were killed and 13 employees and contractors were injured after the plant in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, was hit by a Russian missile on the night of Sunday (16), according to the company.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih initially reported one death before confirming that a second victim had been found during search and rescue operations.
The company said emergency teams, including firefighters, rescuers, medical workers and labour protection specialists, were working at the site. Those injured were receiving medical treatment at hospitals in the city.
A major industrial operation takes another hit
The strike damaged the plant’s main energy and blast furnace production facilities, forcing parts of the production process to stop.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih said specialists were assessing the damage and determining how and when operations could be restored. The company did not provide an estimate for the cost of the damage or say how long the disruption could last.
The steelmaker stressed that the facility is civilian industrial infrastructure and condemned the attack.
The Kryvyi Rih plant has already experienced the consequences of the war. It was hit by a Russian missile strike in 2022, when a rolling shop was destroyed and an employee was killed.
The company described ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih as Ukraine’s largest integrated steel company and a strategic part of the country’s mining and metallurgical industry.
In a statement, the company reportedly said the latest attack was carried out against a civilian industrial facility and that further information would be released in accordance with wartime requirements.
The latest strike comes as Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange attacks, keeping pressure on industrial and energy infrastructure across the country.
For ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the immediate issue is now the extent of the damage and how quickly production can resume. But the repeated attacks also underline the risks faced by major businesses continuing to operate inside a country at war.
