In the early hours of 27 August, russian forces once again attacked the Zaporizhstal steelworks, which had completely halted production following the previous strike on 11 August. Five ballistic missiles hit blast-furnace equipment and energy and transport infrastructure, as well as open areas of the plant.
Oleksandr MYRONENKO, chief operating officer of Metinvest Group, said: “Zaporizhstal is a civilian industrial enterprise known worldwide for its pig iron, as well as for its rolled steel used to make pipes, household appliances and motor vehicles. No military products are manufactured here; this is not a military facility. The plant employs ordinary people – steelworkers, blast-furnace operators, maintenance workers and energy specialists – who make steel for civilian life. Until 11 August, the plant continued operating despite numerous attacks: we had managed to restore and restart production on multiple occasions. However, the attack two weeks ago was unprecedented in its consequences. First and foremost, because of the loss of life. Second, because of the scale of the destruction: it devastated production facilities to an extent not seen since the Second World War. Before this civilian enterprise even had time to recover from the 11 August strike, it was attacked again on 27 August: the same ballistic missiles, the same areas of the plant. Most importantly, everyone is alive. Any time frame for restoring production exists only in theory, because we had barely finished clearing the debris from the previous strike when another one hit us.”
This time, there were no fatalities or injuries. After the air-raid alert was issued, employees on shift managed to reach shelters in time.
Specialists are assessing the extent of the destruction and inspecting the production, energy and transport infrastructure to determine the next steps.
The previous attack on 11 August claimed the lives of eight Zaporizhstal employees: civilians who were making their way to protective shelters while carrying out their work. A further 26 employees were injured. Russian ballistic missiles struck the plant just two minutes after the air-raid alert was issued.
The attack damaged key blast-furnace equipment, energy facilities and the plant’s infrastructure. Zaporizhstal had not suffered destruction on such a scale since the Second World War.
Following urgent emergency repair work, the plant began dismantling damaged structures to gain access to equipment, assess the extent of the destruction and determine the possibilities for restoration. As production had completely stopped, the number of employees present at the plant was reduced, while the core team was retained.
Despite the complete shutdown of production and limited presence of personnel, russia has once again attacked Zaporizhstal. This is further evidence that russian forces are systematically targeting civilian industrial infrastructure and the people who work there.
