Russian missile strikes halt Ukraine's Zaporizhstal steel plant, killing 8

September 30, 2026 at 04:33 AM2 min

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Russian missile strikes have shut down the Zaporizhstal steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, killing eight workers and wounding 31. The plant, which employed 8,500 people, has been hit by four waves of attacks since August, with 17 missiles fired at the site. The shutdown halts production at one of Ukraine's largest steelmakers, part of a campaign that has crippled the country's metallurgical industry.

Key Facts

Zaporizhstal employed 8,500 people before shutting down indefinitely after four waves of Russian attacks in August and September.
Russia fired 17 missiles at the plant, killing eight workers and wounding 31, according to Metinvest COO Oleksandr Myronenko.
Before the 2022 invasion, metallurgy and mining accounted for roughly 10% of Ukraine's GDP and a third of its exports.
All of Ukraine's metallurgical plants have been hit by Russian air strikes since August, with some struck several times.
Ukraine had 12 metallurgical plants before 2014, nine by 2018, and six by 2025 after losing Azovstal and Illich in Mariupol.

Zaporizhstal Shutdown

The Zaporizhstal steelworks in Zaporizhzhia shut down indefinitely after four waves of Russian missile attacks, two in August and two in September. The plant employed 8,500 people and was the largest employer in the city, according to worker Denys Maksyshko. Russia fired a total of 17 missiles at the site, killing eight workers and wounding 31, said Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer of owner Metinvest. Maksyshko described the damage: "All the equipment has been almost completely destroyed. There are no windows left, and there are holes in the roofs. The blast furnaces have been almost completely ruined." Myronenko said the company is clearing rubble and planning recovery, but it is far from certain the plant will restart.

Industry-Wide Destruction

Russia's campaign of air strikes against Ukrainian metallurgical plants began in August and has since hit all of them, some several times. Before the full-scale invasion in 2022, metallurgy and mining accounted for roughly 10% of Ukraine's GDP and a third of its exports. The sector employed more than half a million people, and every 13th job in Ukraine was linked to the industry. Myronenko said the industry's contribution to GDP is now "probably close to zero" and that Russia's efforts to stop Ukraine's economy "have been very effective so far." Metinvest was Ukraine's biggest producer of steel and iron until recently, but all its steelworks are now out of action.

Shrinking Industrial Base

Ukraine had 12 metallurgical plants before losing parts of its industrial heartland in the east after hostilities with Russia began in 2014. By 2018, the number had fallen to nine, and by 2025, three years into the full-scale war, only six remained. Among the lost plants were Azovstal and Illich in Mariupol, the south-eastern city captured after a months-long Russian siege.