For generations, Zaporizhstal has been at the centre of economic life in Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine\u2019s major industrial cities.<\/p>\n
Denys Maksyshko, like thousands of other residents, spent years working at the steel plant. For him, the factory was more than just a workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cZaporizhstal is not just a big company, it\u2019s the heart of the city,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Now that heart has been forced to stop.<\/p>\n
Following four waves of Russian missile strikes\u2014two in August and two in September\u2014the massive steelworks, which employs around 8,500 people, has been shut down indefinitely.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost 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,\u201d Maksyshko says.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now clearing the rubble and trying to plan the recovery,\u201d Myronenko told the BBC.<\/p>\n
For now, however, it remains uncertain whether Zaporizhstal will ever return to full operation.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s sustained campaign of air strikes against Ukraine\u2019s metallurgical plants began in August. Since then, every major steelworks has reportedly been hit, with some targeted repeatedly.<\/p>\n
The attacks have struck at one of the country\u2019s most important economic sectors.<\/p>\n
Before Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine\u2019s mining and metallurgy industries accounted for roughly 10% of the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The recent attacks have brought much of the industry to a standstill.<\/p>\n
Myronenko estimates that the sector\u2019s contribution to Ukraine\u2019s GDP is now \u201cprobably close to zero\u201d.<\/p>\n
Until recently, his company was Ukraine\u2019s largest producer of steel and iron. But all of its steel plants are currently out of operation.<\/p>\n
Myronenko believes the attacks are intended not only to destroy industrial infrastructure but also to weaken Ukraine\u2019s wider economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, they\u2019re trying to stop Ukraine\u2019s economy and stop Ukraine from getting [export] money from abroad, from paying taxes and wages, from ensuring that cities live and people have jobs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir efforts have been very effective so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2014and its destruction threatens to leave a lasting mark on Ukraine\u2019s industrial heartland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For generations, Zaporizhstal has been at the centre of economic life in Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine\u2019s 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. \u201cZaporizhstal is not just a big company, it\u2019s the heart of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions\/2601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstoday24hour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}