Lakshmi Mittal's Steel Plant in Ukraine Hit by Russian Missile, Two Dead

A Russian missile strike on Sunday hit ArcelorMittal's steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, killing two people and wounding 14 workers, Ukrainian officials said. The attack partially halted production at the country's largest integrated steel unit, a facility controlled by Indian-origin billionaire Lakshmi Mittal's global steel group.

The strike came in response to a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia that Moscow said involved hundreds of drones. Russia's defence ministry said it intercepted 822 drones across the country overnight, while regional officials reported at least six deaths.

In the Moscow region, an 83-year-old man was killed after a drone hit a private home, according to Governor Andrey Vorobyov. Another Ukrainian attack sparked a fire at a Wildberries warehouse in Podolsk, a logistics hub of Russia's largest online retailer, he said. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said about 600 drones were detected heading toward the capital, with a third destroyed over the region.

In Russia's southwestern Rostov region, Governor Yury Slyusar said more than 150 drones damaged homes and a railway station, killed five people, and sparked a forest fire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose hometown is Kryvyi Rih, said Russian forces struck civilian infrastructure "wherever they can reach with their ballistic missiles." Over the past week, he said, Ukraine had faced more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs, and 62 missiles. He renewed his appeal to allies for more air defence.

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's largest steel producer, confirmed in a statement that one of its sites had been hit and that operations had been partially suspended. The plant is a key employer in the region and a major supplier of steel for domestic use. Another strike on Kryvyi Rih on Sunday killed one person, according to local authorities.

Russian attacks also killed two people in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, one in the border region of Sumy, and one in Donetsk in the east. In Kyiv, fires broke out at one of the city's largest book markets near the Pochaina metro station, wounding six people.

Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted a metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih and several military-industrial sites in Kyiv, including a facility producing Ukraine's Flamingo missiles. The domestically built missiles are increasingly vital to Ukraine's long-range strikes on Russia, with Zelensky announcing last week that Kyiv had used them to attack a research and production centre in Samara, about 900 km from the border.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, using long-range drones and missiles to target military industries and energy facilities. It has also repeatedly struck Wildberries depots, burning billions of dollars' worth of merchandise, according to reports. Those attacks have brought the war directly to the Russian public, nearly four and a half years into Moscow's full-scale invasion.

With front-line fighting at a near standstill and peace talks frozen, both sides have significantly intensified long-range attacks deep behind each other's lines. Civilian casualties have reached their highest levels since the first months of the full-scale invasion in 2022, according to observers. The escalation has coincided with international efforts to broker a ceasefire, but no progress has been made, and the threat of further strikes remains high.