Lakshmi Mittal's Ukraine steel plant hit by Russian missile; 2 killed

MittalArcelor plant hit in Russian strikes

Russian attacks on Ukraine on Sunday struck a site at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the country’s largest steel producer owned by Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, killing two people and injuring over 10 workers and contractors, the company told Kyiv Post.The missile strike hit the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih mining and metallurgical plant in the central city of Kryvyi Rih on August 16, forcing the company to partially suspend operations.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih killed two people and wounded 14 others. He also reported one death in the northeastern city of Sumy.ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the Ukrainian unit of the world’s second-largest steelmaker, confirmed that one of its sites was hit in the missile attack.The strikes also caused casualties and damage elsewhere in Ukraine. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a man and a woman were killed after their home was hit, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration.In Kyiv, Russian attacks sparked several fires and injured six people. A major fire broke out at one of the capital’s largest book markets near the Pochaina metro station, destroying rows of closely packed kiosks and sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky.“Wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they strike civilian infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said.Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had targeted a metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih as well as several military-industrial facilities in Kyiv, including a site involved in manufacturing Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles.The Ukrainian-made long-range missiles have become increasingly important to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian territory. Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukraine had used the weapons to strike a rocket research and production centre in Samara, about 900 km (560 miles) from the Ukrainian border.The escalating conflict between the two neighbouring countries saw Ukraine launch one of its largest aerial attacks on Russia, killing at least six people on Sunday.Ukraine unleashed hundreds of drones across Russia, with Kyiv stepping up long-range strikes on military and energy facilities as well as major commercial sites.Russia’s defence ministry said it had destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight, including hundreds headed towards Moscow. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said around 600 drones were detected near the capital.An 83-year-old man was killed after a Ukrainian drone struck a home in the Moscow region, while another attack sparked a fire at a Wildberries warehouse in Podolsk.

Ukraine also came under heavy Russian attack, with drone strikes destroying homes and setting fire to Kyiv’s landmark book market.