The facilities belong to Metinvest, the mining and metals group, and ArcelorMittal, and together accounted for roughly 90% of Ukraine's steel output, the Financial Times reported.
Russia struck the plants in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions with ballistic missiles in early September. The targets were the plants' blast furnaces.
Oleksandr Vodoviz, head of the Metinvest CEO's office, told the Financial Times that the Russian military knew exactly where to strike.
He said the plants employ more than 15,000 people, and that the shutdown could seriously affect other sectors of the economy and tax revenues. Vodoviz said the company does not know how long repairs will take: it could be days, weeks, months or years.
Metinvest chief operating officer Oleksandr Myronenko said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine that the industry's situation is shaped not only by the strikes but also by the blockade of ports, expensive logistics, high electricity prices and EU restrictions. He said companies no longer have the margin of safety built up in the pre-war years.
According to GMK Center, Ukraine's total nominal steelmaking capacity has fallen from about 42 million tonnes to 16.5 million tonnes a year as of 2025.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi has said the country could lose about $1.5 billion in tax revenue because of the Russian attacks. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine's military budget deficit stands at 27 billion euros and has asked allies for additional financing.
Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Kamianske depend on their company towns — the Zaporizhstal, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih and Kametstal plants. As Ekonomichna Pravda wrote, their idling leaves local residents without wages and regional budgets without taxes.