Ukraine’s Steel Industry Left in Ruins by Russian Missile Strikes

For generations, Zaporizhstal has been at the centre of economic life in Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine’s major industrial cities.

Denys Maksyshko, like thousands of other residents, spent years working at the steel plant. For him, the factory was more than just a workplace.

“Zaporizhstal is not just a big company, it’s the heart of the city,” he says.

Now that heart has been forced to stop.

Following four waves of Russian missile strikes—two in August and two in September—the massive steelworks, which employs around 8,500 people, has been shut down indefinitely.

“Almost all the equipment has been destroyed. There are no windows left, and there are holes in the roofs. The blast furnaces have been almost completely ruined,” Maksyshko says.

According to Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer of Metinvest, the company that owns Zaporizhstal, Russia launched 17 missiles at the plant. Eight workers were killed and another 31 were injured.

“We’re now clearing the rubble and trying to plan the recovery,” Myronenko told the BBC.

For now, however, it remains uncertain whether Zaporizhstal will ever return to full operation.

A vital part of Ukraine’s economy

Russia’s sustained campaign of air strikes against Ukraine’s metallurgical plants began in August. Since then, every major steelworks has reportedly been hit, with some targeted repeatedly.

The attacks have struck at one of the country’s most important economic sectors.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s mining and metallurgy industries accounted for roughly 10% of the country’s GDP and around a third of its exports. The sector employed more than half a million people, with approximately one in every 13 jobs in Ukraine connected to it directly or indirectly.

The recent attacks have brought much of the industry to a standstill.

Myronenko estimates that the sector’s contribution to Ukraine’s GDP is now “probably close to zero”.

Until recently, his company was Ukraine’s largest producer of steel and iron. But all of its steel plants are currently out of operation.

Myronenko believes the attacks are intended not only to destroy industrial infrastructure but also to weaken Ukraine’s wider economy.

“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,” he says.

“Their efforts have been very effective so far.”

For cities such as Zaporizhzhia, the damage goes far beyond ruined machinery and buildings. The steel industry has long provided jobs, income and economic stability to entire communities—and its destruction threatens to leave a lasting mark on Ukraine’s industrial heartland.