Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest has announced that its Kametstal steel plant in Kamianske was hit by a Russian ballistic missile strike on the night of September 5, resulting in five fatalities and four injuries and forcing the plant to completely halt production.
According to Metinvest, only a few minutes passed between the announcement of the air raid alert and the missile strike, preventing all employees from reaching shelters in time. The attack killed four Kametstal employees and one contractor, while four other employees sustained injuries of varying severity and received medical treatment.
Sinter production and infrastructure damaged
The missile strike damaged the plant's sinter production facilities as well as its energy and transport infrastructure, resulting in a complete suspension of all production processes. Metinvest chief operating officer Oleksandr Myronenko stated that there were no military targets, equipment or military production at the Kametstal site and that the plant produced iron and steel exclusively for civilian purposes.
Emergency recovery work is currently underway. Once debris removal has been completed, specialists will inspect the affected equipment and infrastructure to determine the full extent of the damage and assess the steps required to restart operations. The timeline for restoring and resuming production remains unknown.
As SteelOrbis reported previously, Metinvest's Zaporizhstal steel plant in Zaporizhzhia shut down following two consecutive Russian missile attacks on August 11 and August 27. The shutdown was expected to have a significant impact on Ukraine's basic pig iron (BPI) and flat steel export shipments, particularly BPI supplies to the US and finished steel shipments to European markets.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant also hit on September 5
Meanwhile, Russian forces also carried out a missile strike on billet, long steel and rail producer Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), a part of DCH Group, in Dnipro on the night of September 5.
According to the plant, employees had reached shelters before the attack and no casualties were reported. Industrial and administrative facilities at the Dnipro plant were damaged, while the extent of the damage is still being assessed. Emergency services and police are working at the site.
