Ukrainian Heavy Industry Ground Down By Russia’s War

The months-long shelling by Russia of Ukrainian troops entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol showed the resilience of such Soviet-era infrastructure — but ultimately the facility was left destroyed.

By September, over 420 Ukrainian industries and companies had been damaged or destroyed by the war, comprising an estimated loss of $30 billion, according to the Kyiv School of Economics.

Mining and manufacturing processing industries made up 17 percent of Ukraine’s GDP in 2021, and the sector “is part of the economic security” of the country, said Dmytro Goryunov, an economist with the Centre for Economic Strategy.

The importance of heavy industry for the economy explains why Russia pounds it, according to Anatoly Kovaliov, rector of the Odessa National University of Economics.

“After three days of failed ‘blitzkrieg’, of absolute fiasco, the Russians understood that they would not take our country easily, so they decided to destroy it”, Kovaliov told AFP.

The Kremlin has an aim of “de-economisation”, he said.

Ukrainian GDP collapsed by 37 percent in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to Goryunov.

This article was published in Kyiv Post.