Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal-owned ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ukraine partially suspended operations after a Russian strike killed two people and injured 13.
The strike on Sunday damaged key energy and blast furnace production facilities at the plant in Kryvyi Rih, according to Russian state-run newspaper Rossiya Gazeta. It damaged facilities linked to energy supply and blast furnace operations. The company said search and rescue efforts were underway, with firefighters, rescue workers and medical personnel at the site.
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's largest steel plant, announced a partial shutdown following Russian strikes,” it reported and described the facility as part of Ukraine’s strategic economic and security complex.
Plant had been targeted in 2022
The latest strike is not the first time the facility has come under Russian attack. A missile strike in 2022 destroyed a rolling mill at the plant and killed one worker, The Kyiv Post reported.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is Ukraine’s largest steel producer and one of the country’s key industrial facilities. The plant is located in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Strikes hit Kyiv book market
The attack on the steel plant was part of a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine on August 16. In Kyiv, an overnight attack led to a major fire at the historic Petrivka book market near the Pochaina metro station.
{{/usCountry}}The attack on the steel plant was part of a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine on August 16. In Kyiv, an overnight attack led to a major fire at the historic Petrivka book market near the Pochaina metro station.
{{/usCountry}}Several rows of retail pavilions at the market were completely destroyed, along with their inventory. The market, which has operated since the 1990s, is among Kyiv’s oldest and largest book markets.
The strikes also caused fires and structural damage in parts of Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district.
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Zelensky reports scale of attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 aerial bombs and 62 missiles at Ukraine over the previous week.
According to Zelensky, the attacks targeted 13 regions. He said strikes on Kryvyi Rih killed two people and injured 14 across the city, while an attack in Sumy killed one person and injured another six people in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
Zelensky renewed calls for international partners to provide Ukraine with additional air defence systems, saying stronger protection was needed to prevent further civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.