Russian strikes shut Ukraine’s biggest steelmaker, kill 7 in Kyiv

KYIV – Steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it was shutting production at Ukraine’s largest steel plant, underscoring the growing economic toll of Russia’s air strikes.

The air strikes on Sept 25 killed seven people in Kyiv, including a 14-year-old boy, and injured 59.

ArcelorMittal said that day that it had informed the Ukrainian government that “safe and sustainable” operations were not possible after four strikes in five weeks caused extensive damage and killed five workers at the south-eastern plant.

The shutdown is another blow to Ukraine’s once-mighty steel sector, which previously accounted for 15 per cent of the country’s exports but has come under pressure from Russian attacks and restrictions from the European Union, its top trading partner.

Russia has intensified air strikes across Ukraine in recent months, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones that have hit businesses, logistics networks, Black Sea port facilities and civilian infrastructure.

The economic impact of the attacks is cutting tax revenue and leaving the government with a widening budget gap as it seeks to finance the war, officials have said.

“The Russians are constantly expanding their escalation operation,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, noting a food warehouse used by McDonald’s was also hit on Sept 25.

“It is important that the world responds to all of this and that Russia feels the response to its terror.”

Ukraine has also stepped up its attacks on Russia, targeting defence and energy facilities as well as major online retailers, in an effort to undermine revenues and support for Moscow’s war effort.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, said Ukrainian forces had instigated attacks “on every front” and should be made to feel the effect of retaliatory strikes.

He said proposals for new peace talks and a ceasefire remained on the table, but Moscow had “to think carefully” about how to respond.

‘My alarm clock is a Shahed drone’

A drone strike on a high-rise building in central Kyiv early on Sept 25 killed a 14-year-old boy in what Zelensky described as an “absolutely savage and sickening” attack.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko later said that the bodies of four people had been found in a carpark in a separate daytime strike on an office building.

He said 59 people were injured in the attacks on Sept 25, with 25 being treated in hospital, one in a serious condition. Russian attacks on the city continued throughout the afternoon and evening.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Zelensky said a meeting of Ukraine’s military command had discussed the effectiveness of air defences against newly deployed Russian jet-powered drones.

Speaking to Reuters, 29-year-old Kyiv resident Anna said the mounting attacks made it feel as though she was “living under a gun”.

“Every morning, my alarm clock is a Shahed drone,” she said, referring to the drones that have been attacking Kyiv almost continuously for weeks.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in the war, triggered by its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The United Nations said on Sept 25 its monitoring mission in Ukraine had recorded at least 200 civilian deaths in September from attacks that also damaged “homes, hospitals, shops and workplaces”.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out overnight drone strikes on Ukrainian defence industry facilities, logistics centres and vessels used by Kyiv’s armed forces.

In Ukraine’s latest attacks on Russia, a drone strike forced the suspension of operations at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the Rostov region.

Zelensky confirmed the strike, saying Ukraine had also hit a similar facility in Perm and a defence enterprise in Ulyanovsk.

Steel industry suffering

ArcelorMittal, whose Kryvyi Rih plant produced 1.7 million metric tonnes of steel in 2025, said it expected to book a non-cash impairment charge of around US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion).

“It is with deep regret that we have concluded that we are no longer able to safely operate ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih,” subsidiary chief executive officer Mauro Longobardo said in a statement.

The plant’s operations also include iron ore mines, which produced 7.6 million tonnes of iron ore in 2025, according to the company’s annual report.

“We are discussing the future of the plant with the government of Ukraine and will focus on preserving the infrastructure, so when peace finally returns, options for restarting production remain available,” said Longobardo.

The plant employs about 12,500 people and 3,500 contractors. The company is assessing staffing needs after the shutdown to preserve the site, maintain security and support essential functions, a spokesperson told Reuters. REUTERS