The plant, which was shut down following enemy ballistic missile strikes on 11 August, has been hit again. In the early hours of 17 September, russia struck Zaporizhstal with two ballistic missiles. The strikes hit the industrial sites of the plant’s workshops, causing significant damage to engineering and railway infrastructure. There were no fatalities, while one employee was hospitalised.
Oleksandr MYRONENKO, chief operating officer of Metinvest Group, commented: “The aggressor country has launched a total of 17 ballistic missiles at Zaporizhstal since August. This is already the fourth attack in just over a month, amounting to systematic terror against Ukrainian industry and its people. russia continues to wage war against civilians and deliberately destroy production facilities that underpin the viability of the Ukrainian economy, provide jobs for thousands of people in Zaporizhzhia and produce Ukrainian steel. Repeated strikes on a plant that has already been shut down are an attempt to prevent it from recovering and resuming operations.”
In accordance with the plant’s established wartime threat response procedures, all employees were alerted in advance when the missile threat was announced and instructed to move to shelters, where they remained until the all-clear. At the time of the strike, one employee had been unable to reach a shelter. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the plant’s employees and emergency services, the employee was rescued from the debris, given first aid and taken to a city hospital with shrapnel wounds and concussion. The plant is monitoring the employee’s condition and will provide all necessary support until they make a full recovery. There were no fatalities at the plant.
The attack caused significant damage to core and auxiliary production equipment, workshop buildings and railway infrastructure. Work is ongoing at the plant to clear debris and deal with the consequences of the russian attack, allowing inspections to be carried out and the extent of the damage to be assessed.
Zaporizhstal has been subjected to systematic attacks by the aggressor. On 11 August, a russian attack damaged the plant’s core and auxiliary production equipment, infrastructure and power system, killing eight employees and injuring 28. The plant’s production chains were disrupted, bringing Zaporizhstal to a complete halt. On 27 August, another enemy attack damaged the same production facilities, with no fatalities or injuries. The attack on 12 September hit the blast furnace and steelmaking operations, energy facilities and networks, as well as logistics infrastructure, and injured four employees of the plant.
Zaporizhstal remains a major industrial enterprise for Zaporizhzhia and Ukraine. Metinvest’s priority today is to preserve the plant and its workforce, its production potential and its ability to recover. Every new russian strike makes this more difficult, but does not change that objective.
