ZAPORIZHZHIA — Russia's missile campaign has crippled Ukraine's steel industry, leading to the indefinite closure of major production facilities and significant worker casualties. The Zaporizhstal factory in Zaporizhzhia, a key employer in the city, shut down after four waves of Russian attacks in Aug. and Sept.
Denys Maksyshko, a longtime Zaporizhstal employee, described the factory as “the heart of the city.” He said the equipment is “almost completely destroyed,” with windows gone, holes in roofs and blast furnaces “almost completely ruined.” Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer for Metinvest, which owns Zaporizhstal, confirmed Russia fired 17 missiles at the plant. Eight workers died and 31 sustained injuries during these attacks.
Metinvest is now clearing rubble and planning recovery efforts, Myronenko said. He expressed uncertainty about whether Zaporizhstal, which employs 8,500 people, will ever resume operations.
The air strikes against Ukrainian metallurgical plants began in Aug. with all facilities hit at least once and some multiple times. This campaign targets a sector crucial to Ukraine's national economy.
Before the 2022 invasion, metallurgy and mining contributed about 10 percent of Ukraine's Gross Domestic Product and one-third of its total exports. The industry provided employment for more than 500,000 people, with one in every 13 jobs in the country linked to it.
Myronenko said the recent Russian attacks have brought the industry to a near standstill, estimating its current contribution to Ukraine's GDP is “probably close to zero.”
“Clearly, they're trying to stop Ukraine's economy and stop Ukraine from getting [export] money from abroad, from paying taxes and wages, from ensuring that cities live and people have jobs,” Myronenko said. He added that these efforts have been “very effective so far.”
Among other major steel-making cities affected is Kryvyi Rih, the home city of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On Sept. 25, Ukraine's largest steelworks, Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rih, announced its inability to reopen following five weeks of repeated attacks, which killed five of its workers. The Kamet Steel plant also sustained repeated strikes.
These three large steelworks — Zaporizhstal, Kametstal and Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rih — were responsible for about 90 percent of Ukraine's steel production before the recent attacks disabled them since Aug.
The decline of Ukraine's steel industry began earlier. The country had 12 metallurgical plants before losing parts of its eastern industrial heartland after hostilities with Russia started in 2014. By 2018, only nine plants remained. By 2025, three years into the full-scale war, this number had fallen to six, including the loss of Azovstal and Illich plants in Mariupol following a lengthy Russian siege.
Beyond direct damage to plants, Russian attacks on railway infrastructure have made transporting products within Ukraine difficult and dangerous. Strikes against port facilities have also complicated exports, making them a hazardous undertaking. These logistical challenges further impede any potential recovery for the industry.
The widespread damage to the metallurgical sector carries severe consequences for Ukraine's economy and society, impacting revenue generation, employment and overall economic stability.
