Russia continues strikes on Ukrainian metallurgy: Zaporizhstal attacked again

On the morning of September 17, Russian troops launched a new ballistic missile strike on the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, which has not resumed production after previous attacks. Two missiles hit the industrial sites of the workshops, significantly damaging technological equipment, buildings, engineering and railway networks.

This was reported by the Metinvest group. This is already the fourth attack on the enterprise in just over a month.

According to the company, since early August Russia has fired a total of 17 ballistic missiles at Zaporizhstal.

During the new strike, the epicenters of the impacts were on industrial sites of the workshops. The main technological and auxiliary equipment, buildings, utilities, and railway infrastructure were damaged.

Debris clearing, liquidation of consequences of the shelling, and inspection of facilities to determine the extent of damages are ongoing at the enterprise.

There are no fatalities as a result of the attack. One employee did not manage to reach shelter before the strike. He was extricated from the debris and hospitalized with shrapnel wounds and a concussion.

Metinvest's Chief Operating Officer Oleksandr Myronenko stated that the company views repeated strikes on an already halted enterprise as an attempt to prevent the resumption of production.

"Repeated strikes on a halted enterprise are an attempt to prevent it from recovering and returning to work", - Myronenko noted.

The plant hasn't operated since the August attack

Zaporizhstal suffered the heaviest damage on August 11. Then the main and auxiliary technological equipment, infrastructure, and energy system of the enterprise were damaged. Eight employees were killed and 28 others were wounded.

The plant's production chains were disrupted, after which the enterprise completely stopped.

On August 27, Russia again attacked the same production facilities. That time there were no casualties.

On September 12, the plant came under another ballistic missile strike. Blast furnace and steelmaking production, energy facilities, networks, and logistics infrastructure were damaged. Four employees were injured.

Thus, the September 17 strike was already the fourth on Zaporizhstal in just over a month, and the plant has not been able to resume production between attacks.

Steel production in Ukraine has sharply declined

The shutdown of large metallurgical enterprises is already reflected in overall industry indicators. In August, Ukrainian enterprises produced 277,000 tons of steel — 57.3% less than in the same month of 2025, and 39.4% less compared to July.

Before the shutdown in August, Zaporizhstal managed to smelt only 46,200 tons of steel.

Over the first eight months of the year, steel production in Ukraine decreased by 12.5% to 4.3 million tons, pig iron — by 14.8% to 4.35 million tons, and rolled products — by 15.6% to 3.59 million tons.

GMK Center analysts expected that due to the shutdown of Zaporizhstal and Kametstal, September results for the industry could be even weaker.

The metallurgy sector, which before the full-scale invasion provided up to 7% of Ukraine's GDP, is now under simultaneous pressure from Russian attacks, problems with maritime exports, and trade restrictions on the EU market. In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, Myronenko assessed the current contribution of the industry to GDP as close to zero.

Based on materials from: Metinvest, GMK Center, Forbes Ukraine