New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) A Russian missile strike on Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih killed two people and injured 14 workers and damaged major production facilities, forcing a partial halt to operations, according to reports.
The attack has targeted Ukraine’s largest steel plant — located in the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih said the strike damaged facilities linked to power generation and blast-furnace operations, disrupting production processes.
“As a result of the attack, key production facilities in the power generation and blast furnace sectors have been damaged, and the plant’s production processes have been partially halted,” the company said in a statement.
The strike came amid an escalation in long-range attacks between Russia and Ukraine as both sides launched large-scale drone attacks and targeted energy, industrial and military infrastructure.
In addition, Zelenskyy said Russian forces were continuing to target civilian infrastructure and claimed that over the previous week Russia had launched more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles against Ukrainian cities.
Reports suggest that Russia’s Defence Ministry said the metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih was among the targets, along with military-industrial facilities in Kyiv. They also claimed to have intercepted 822 Ukrainian drones during the latest wave of attacks.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is Ukraine’s major industrial facilities and is part of steel giant ArcelorMittal.
Moreover, the latest damage threatens to further disrupt industrial activity in a region that has repeatedly come under Russian attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The plant’s dependence on stable power and supporting infrastructure makes the reported damage to its energy and blast-furnace facilities particularly significant.
Meanwhile, Ukraine stepped up drone attacks inside Russia.
–IANS
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