Thirteen employees and contractors were injured at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, while key energy and blast-furnace facilities were damaged, prompting a partial production halt.
NEW DELHI (India CSR): Two people were killed after a Russian missile strike hit ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s largest mining and steel producer, in the early hours of August 16. The plant is part of global steel major ArcelorMittal, led by Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi N. Mittal. The company said 13 of its employees and contractor personnel were injured in the attack. Regional authorities put the overall number of people injured in Kryvyi Rih at 14, indicating that the wider casualty count may include people beyond the company’s staff and contractors. Associated Press and Ukrainska Pravda independently reported the fatalities and injuries.
Key Production Facilities Damaged
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih said the strike damaged critical energy and blast-furnace production facilities. The damage forced the company to partially suspend production processes while specialists assess the scale of destruction and determine a restoration timeline. Firefighters, rescuers, medical teams and occupational-safety personnel were deployed at the site. The company described the plant as a civilian mining and metallurgical facility and said emergency-response procedures had been activated. The New Voice of Ukraine reported that search-and-rescue operations continued after the attack.
Strike Came During Wider Attack on Ukraine
The attack on Kryvyi Rih was part of a wider Russian missile and drone assault on Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 14 were injured in Kryvyi Rih. Other attacks were reported in Kyiv, Sumy and the Zaporizhzhia region. Russia’s defence ministry said it had targeted a metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih and other facilities it described as linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial sector. Ukraine and the company, however, have identified ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih as a civilian industrial enterprise.
A Major Industrial Asset Under Pressure
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is a strategically important industrial employer and one of Ukraine’s biggest steelmaking assets. The plant had also suffered a destructive Russian missile attack in 2022, when a rolling mill was damaged and an employee was killed. The latest strike again underlines the human and operational risks faced by industrial workers and local communities during the war. Beyond physical infrastructure, such attacks disrupt livelihoods, workplace safety, supply chains and the continuity of essential industrial operations.
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