Russia attacks Europe’s largest steel mill in Mariupol

Azovstad, one of Europe’s largest steel mills, was severely damaged as Russian armed forces laid siege to the important Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

As the Russian-Ukrainian war intensifies, Russian armed forces are launching attacks on vital infrastructure in Ukraine’s war-torn cities. One of Europe’s largest steel mills in Azovstad was severely damaged as Russian armed forces laid siege to the key Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, officials said.

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko posted a creepy video on her Twitter page. Calling Azovstal one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe, she said: “One of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe at Azovstal was destroyed. The economic loss for Ukraine is huge. The environment is damaged.”

‘will return to the city and revive it’

Another Ukrainian lawmaker, Serhiy Taruta, wrote on Facebook that the Russian armed forces “almost destroyed the factory.”

However, Azovstal’s director general, Enver Tskitishvili, in his Telegram message, a messaging app promised to restart Azovstal’s operations after the factory was restored. “We’re going to go back to the city, rebuild the business, revive it,” he said, without specifying the extent of the damage to the factory.

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He added that when the invasion began on February 24, the company took precautions to minimize environmental damage in the event of a strike. “Coke oven batteries no longer pose a threat to the lives of residents,” he wrote. “We also stopped the blast furnace correctly.” With the extent of the damage still unclear, fears of environmental impact loomed.