Russia hits Zaporizhstal with four ballistic missiles in third strike on plant in a month
On the night of September 12, Russian forces struck the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant in Zaporizhzhia with four ballistic missiles, injuring four employees. It was the third such attack on the plant in roughly one month, while it remained offline from earlier strikes on August 11 and 27.
Key points
- Four ballistic missiles hit Zaporizhstal's production site during the night of September 12.
- Four employees were injured; three were hospitalized with moderate-severity injuries and one declined hospitalization to help with the aftermath.
- No fatalities were reported from the strike on the plant.
- Damage hit main and auxiliary equipment of the blast-furnace and open-hearth shops, the plant's power system and networks, and logistics infrastructure; scale is preliminarily assessed as critical.
- The plant had not resumed production after being struck on August 11 and August 27; no man-made (technogenic) accident threat due to halted operations.
- Previous strikes on August 11 killed seven Zaporizhstal workers and injured more than 20; Metinvest described August 27 damage as comparable in scale to World War II.
- Zaporizhstal, part of Rinat Akhmetov's Metinvest group, says it produces pig iron and steel exclusively for civilian needs and hosts nothing that could make it a military target.
Why it matters
Three ballistic-missile strikes on a single metallurgical plant within about a month point to deliberate, repeated targeting of a civilian industrial facility. Metinvest's Operations Director Oleksandr Myronenko characterised the pattern as the systematic destruction of Ukraine's civilian industry. The damage is preliminarily assessed as critical, hitting blast-furnace and open-hearth equipment, the plant's power system and logistics infrastructure. Because production was still halted from earlier strikes, no man-made (technogenic) accident was triggered, but Zaporizhstal is one of Ukraine's leading metallurgical enterprises and the country's third-largest metal-products producer, so repeated hits on an idle facility compound economic and industrial losses.
What happened
On the night of September 12, Russian forces struck the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant in Zaporizhzhia with four ballistic missiles. Four employees were injured: three were hospitalized in city hospitals with injuries of moderate severity after receiving pre-medical aid, while one, after first aid and an on-site medical examination, declined hospitalization and stayed to help deal with the aftermath. No fatalities were reported from the strike on the plant.
The missiles damaged main and auxiliary equipment of the blast-furnace and open-hearth shops, the plant's power system and networks, and logistics infrastructure. Metinvest said the scale of destruction is growing with each strike and that the September 12 damage is preliminarily assessed as critical, though a final assessment was not yet possible and inspection of damaged facilities was ongoing. Because production at the plant had not been resumed after the earlier strikes, there was no threat of a man-made (technogenic) accident. The number of personnel on the plant's territory during the attack had been significantly limited.
It was the third ballistic-missile strike on Zaporizhstal in roughly one month. Previous strikes on August 11 and August 27 had already halted operations; on August 11, seven Zaporizhstal workers were killed and more than 20 were injured, and Metinvest described the August 27 damage as comparable in scale to World War II. The plant states it produces pig iron and steel exclusively for civilian needs and hosts nothing on its territory that could make it a military target.
During the same night, the Zaporizhzhia City Defense Council also reported damage to private houses and two fatalities in the city, and a separate missile strike hit the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih enterprise, killing two and injuring four.
Background
Zaporizhstal is part of the Metinvest group owned by Rinat Akhmetov and produces pig iron and steel for civilian needs; the company states it hosts nothing on its territory that could make it a military target. Previous strikes on August 11 and August 27 killed and injured multiple workers and halted operations, with Metinvest describing the August 27 damage as comparable in scale to World War II. On the night of September 12, the Zaporizhzhia City Defense Council also reported damage to private houses and two fatalities in the city, and a separate missile strike hit the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih enterprise, killing two and injuring four.