The Azovstal steel and metallurgical plant in Mariupol, one of the largest in Europe, was heavily damaged by shelling, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.
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“One of the biggest metallurgical factories in Europe is destroyed. The economic losses for Ukraine are immense,” said MP Lesia Vasylenko, who posted a video on her Twitter account showing thick columns of smoke rising from an industrial complex.
Another MP, Serhiy Taruta, wrote on his Facebook page that Russian forces, besieging Mariupol, “virtually destroyed the factory”.
Azovstal Managing Director Enver Tskitishvili said in a video message posted on Telegram that his company took precautionary measures at the plant from the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 to prevent any damage to the plant. ‘environment.
“Coke oven batteries no longer represent a danger to the lives of residents. We have also shut down the blast furnaces properly,” he said.
“We will return to the city, rebuild and resurrect the business,” he promised, without specifying the extent of the damage.
The Azovstal factory in Mariupol belongs to the Metinvest group, controlled by Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.
