ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ukraine hit by Russian missile strike, two dead
A Russian missile strike hit the ArcelorMittal mining and metallurgical complex in Kryvyi Rih, killing two people and injuring workers while disrupting production.
A Russian missile strike hit the country's largest metallurgical facility, an industrial complex owned by Indian-origin billionaire Lakshmi Mittal's ArcelorMittal group. The overnight attack on the mining and metallurgical complex in Kryvyi Rih killed two people and injured workers, while forcing a partial suspension of production processes.
According to ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, key production facilities in the power generation and blast furnace sectors sustained damage. The enterprise strongly condemned the assault, emphasizing via Facebook that the enterprise is a civilian object of the mining and metallurgical industry. The site previously faced repeated attacks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Media additions
The strike on Kryvyi Rih — which is also Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown — formed part of a broader escalation involving intensive aerial bombardments across the region. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry countered that its tactical aircraft, missile forces, and artillery targeted fuel, energy, and transport infrastructure used by Ukrainian troops, as well as facilities involved in assembling and storing long-range drones and unmanned boats.
The wider conflict has seen a dramatic surge in civilian casualties. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that civilian casualties reached their highest monthly level in July since March 2022. Investigators verified hundreds of civilian deaths and thousands of injuries during that period, marking a significant increase compared to prior months and earlier years.
The retaliatory and cross-border nature of the campaign has increasingly extended deep into Russian territory. Ukrainian forces launched a massive wave of hundreds of drones targeting Russian regions, prompting Moscow officials to report intercepting hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles overnight. In the Moscow region, Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported an elderly man was killed in what he described as one of the largest drone attacks on the area since the conflict began. A warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, was hit in the town of Podolsk, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky. Ukraine has targeted Wildberries over allegations that the retailer handles military goods. Additional strikes and casualties were reported in the southern Russian city of Belgorod, alongside a Ukrainian claim of hitting a missile fuel production facility in the Rostov region.
The airborne escalation also spilled past immediate national borders. Romania announced that an F-18 fighter jet on a NATO air policing mission shot down a drone that breached its airspace after entering from Moldova. A NATO spokesperson indicated the drone appeared to be Russian. This marks the fourth incident this year in which a drone has strayed into Romanian territory.
Overview of Recent Incidents
- Kryvyi Rih: ArcelorMittal mining and metallurgical complex hit by Russian missiles, resulting in two deaths, multiple injuries, and partial suspension of blast furnace operations.
- Kyiv and Surroundings: Overnight missile and drone attacks caused fires in multiple districts, including the Petrivka book market, and injured several civilians.
- Moscow Region: A massive drone assault struck Podolsk, damaging a Wildberries retail warehouse and causing one fatality.
- Romanian Airspace: A NATO-assigned F-18 fighter intercepted and shot down a stray drone crossing the border from Moldova.
As emergency services continue search and rescue operations and specialists assess the structural damage at the Kryvyi Rih metallurgical plant, the full-scale invasion has entered its fifth year with no diplomatic resolution in sight.
