Russia Hits Indian Billionaire’s Factory In Ukraine As War Spills In Europe

The ArcelorMittal mining and metallurgical complex in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s most extensive integrated steel production facility and owned by Indian-origin billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, recently sustained a missile strike by Russia. This aggressive action, which tragically claimed two lives and injured 14 workers, resulted in a partial cessation of operations due to damage inflicted upon crucial energy and blast-furnace infrastructure. The attack is understood to be a retaliatory measure following an extensive Ukrainian drone assault on Russian territory.

Earlier, Ukraine unleashed a wave of hundreds of drones across various regions of Russia, marking one of Kyiv’s most substantial aerial operations since the conflict began. This barrage led to the deaths of at least six individuals. Andrey Vorobyov, Moscow’s regional governor, characterized the attack as one of the most massive drone incursions in recent memory. The Russian Ministry of Defence reported intercepting 822 drones overnight across the country.

During the Ukrainian drone offensive, an 83-year-old man was killed when a drone struck his private residence in the Moscow region. Additionally, another Ukrainian attack ignited a significant blaze at a Wildberries warehouse in Podolsk. Wildberries, Russia’s leading online retailer, is controlled by Tatyana Kim, the country’s wealthiest woman. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin indicated that approximately 600 drones were detected heading towards the capital, with a third of these being neutralized over the Moscow region.

Further drone attacks targeted three towns in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, leading to five fatalities. The local Governor, Yury Slyusar, confirmed that this attack, involving over 150 drones, caused damage to several homes and a railway station, also sparking a forest fire.

This escalation underscores a new front in the ongoing conflict, with Ukraine intensifying its long-range attacks this year. These strikes have targeted military industrial complexes and energy infrastructure within Russia using long-range missiles and drone swarms. The logistical hubs of Wildberries have also been repeatedly hit, leading to the destruction of merchandise worth billions of dollars. These incidents have brought the harsh realities of the war closer to the Russian populace, nearly four and a half years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With front-line combat largely stalemated and diplomatic discussions frozen, both nations have significantly amplified long-range assaults deep within each other’s territories, pushing civilian casualties to their highest levels since the initial months of the war in 2022.

In response to the Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles. On Sunday, two people were killed at the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, the largest steel producer in Ukraine, confirmed the missile strike on one of its sites and the subsequent partial suspension of operations. Another strike in Kryvyi Rih on the same day resulted in one fatality.

Beyond Kryvyi Rih, Russian attacks also affected other regions. Two individuals died in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, one in the border region of Sumy, and another in Donetsk in the east. In Kyiv, Russian attacks instigated fires and wounded six people, including a blaze that engulfed a large book market near the Pochaina metro station. In a social media statement regarding the overnight raids, President Zelenskyy condemned Russia for targeting civilian infrastructure with ballistic missiles wherever they could reach. He further highlighted that Ukrainian cities had been subjected to over 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs, and 62 missiles over the past week, reiterating his plea to allies for enhanced air defense systems.

The Russian Ministry of Defence asserted that it had specifically targeted a metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih and several military-industrial facilities in Kyiv, including a manufacturing site for Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles. These domestically produced missiles are becoming increasingly vital for Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russia. President Zelenskyy recently announced that Ukraine had utilized these weapons to strike a rocket research and production center in Samara, located approximately 900 kilometers (560 miles) from the Ukrainian border. This incident highlights the growing capabilities of Ukraine’s defense industry.

The conflict’s repercussions have also spilled over into Europe. The Romanian Ministry of National Defence reported that a Spanish Air and Space Force F-18 fighter jet intercepted and shot down a drone that had violated Romanian airspace. The drone’s unauthorized entry into the NATO member’s airspace was detected by surveillance systems at 4:44 am on Sunday, approximately 24 kilometers north of Galati, an eastern city near the border with neighboring Moldova. Moldova is a landlocked nation situated between Ukraine and Romania. This incident follows a series of similar events, with Romanian pilots having shot down three drones over three days as Russia intensified its attacks near the Ukrainian border. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Romania has documented dozens of drone incidents, some of which have resulted in crashes and explosions on its territory.