Strikes on Steel. How Russian missiles destroyed Ukraine's vital metallurgical industry

Like thousands of other residents of Zaporizhzhia, Denys Maksyshka has worked for many years at the "Zaporizhstal" metallurgical plant located in this city. For several generations, this enterprise has been the largest and most important employer in the city, writes the BBC.

But now, after several Russian missile strikes, this heart no longer beats. Four attacks — two in August and two in September — have halted the operation of the huge plant, employing 8,500 people, indefinitely.

"All equipment is almost completely destroyed. No windows are left, and there are holes in the roofs. The blast furnaces are practically ruined," Maksyshka explains.

According to Oleksandr Myronenko, operational director of "Zaporizhstal," Russia launched 17 missiles at the plant. Eight employees died, and 31 people were injured.

"Now we are clearing the debris and trying to plan the restoration," Myronenko told the BBC.

But for now, there is no certainty that "Zaporizhstal" will ever be able to operate again.

Campaign to Destroy the Industry

The systematic Russian campaign of strikes against Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises began in August. To date, missiles have damaged all plants, some multiple times. This is a key sector of the Ukrainian economy, and it represents a lucrative target for Russia.

Before the full-scale invasion in 2022, the metallurgical and mining industry accounted for about 10% of Ukraine's GDP and approximately one-third of the country's exports. More than 500,000 people were employed here, and about 8% of all jobs in Ukraine were linked to this sector in one way or another.

Павялічыць

As Myronenko says, due to recent Russian attacks, the industry has stopped, and its contribution to the country's GDP is now "likely approaching zero."

Until recently, his company was Ukraine's largest producer of steel and pig iron, but now all its metallurgical plants are not operating.

"It's obvious that they are trying to halt the Ukrainian economy and make sure that Ukraine cannot get money from exports abroad, cannot pay taxes and salaries, so that its cities cannot live and people do not have jobs," Myronenko says. "So far, their efforts have been very effective."

What This Could Mean for the Economy and the Country

The damage inflicted on the metallurgical industry could have devastating consequences for Ukraine's economy and society.

Before the armed confrontation with Russia began in 2014, which led to the loss of important industrial regions in the east of the country, Ukraine had 12 metallurgical plants.

By 2018, only nine remained, and in 2025, after three years of full-scale war, this number decreased to six. Among the lost enterprises were "Azovstal" and Ilyich Mariupol Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol.

Among the cities suffering from the latest Russian shelling is Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On September 25, Ukraine's largest metallurgical enterprise, "ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih" (formerly "Kryvorizhstal"), announced that it could not operate after constant strikes that lasted five weeks. The plant noted the courage of its employees, five of whom died.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council, made an emergency appeal to the city's residents, stating that there had been a "very serious strike," the consequences of which would affect far more than just a few thousand plant employees.

The situation, he admitted, is very serious.

"These are taxes to the community budget. And these are not just abstract figures. We all understand – these are funds for public sector salaries, for maintaining urban infrastructure, repairing pipes and boiler houses, these are funds for kindergartens, the social sphere, and much more," he said.

As Stanislav Zinchenko, head of the Kyiv consulting company GMK Center, says, taxes from metallurgical companies provided between 30% and 70% of local budget revenues in the cities where these enterprises are located.

Павялічыць

"In other words, the physical survival of cities depends on these companies," he told the BBC. "This is a catastrophic problem for Ukraine's economy. Before the war, the metallurgical and mining industry was key. It was always the largest investor in the economy, on average investing two to three billion dollars a year."

"Deadly Lottery"

If metallurgical enterprises remain closed, hundreds of thousands of people could lose their jobs, leading to waves of migration whose consequences will be felt far beyond Ukraine, Zinchenko warns.

"A humanitarian catastrophe is approaching," he says.

The end of the metallurgical industry will also have extremely severe consequences for Ukraine's defense capabilities and its recovery.

Steel is a crucial component for military equipment, as well as for producing shelters and rebuilding numerous buildings damaged by Russia.

This is precisely how Moscow tries to justify its strikes on metallurgical enterprises. It claims that the plants in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih produced weapons.

"We tried to restart 'Zaporizhstal.' We started the furnace and worked for 10 hours until another airstrike occurred," said Oleksandr Vadoviz from Metinvest during a conference in Kyiv.

He added that due to the uncertainty, there is no point in spending funds on restoring the plants yet.

But even if production can be resumed, Ukrainian metallurgical plants will not soon return to normal operation.

Russian strikes on railways have made transporting their products dangerous and difficult. And strikes on ports have turned exports into a deadly lottery.

"Ports are effectively blocked," Myronenko says. "Every vessel can be attacked, and the chances are 50/50 — either it succeeds or it doesn't."

Ukraine's problems could also be exacerbated by steel import quotas introduced by the European Union on July 1.

But Denys Maksyshka, an employee of "Zaporizhstal," does not lose optimism.

His colleagues are striving to revive the plant, clearing debris and trying to repair everything that can still be repaired.

"It's the same thing soldiers do in the trenches. Ordinary people fight like soldiers for the plant to live," he concludes.

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