With Russian bombing of Ukraine intensifying, so have strikes on workplaces and killing of workers. Please see below a statement from the Independent Trade Union of Mineworkers of Ukraine (NGPU), part of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU) – and please share widely.
On behalf of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU), I’m writing to inform you about yet another wave of brutal Russian attacks on enterprises and workplaces in Ukraine’s mining and metallurgical industries, and their devastating consequences for Ukrainian workers.
On 16 August 2026, PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih was struck by a Russian missile. Thirteen employees of the enterprise and workers of contractor companies were injured, and, tragically, one person was killed. The NPGU has a trade union organization at the enterprise, which has reported this latest act of terror against Ukrainian workers. The attack damaged key production facilities, including energy and blast-furnace infrastructure, and partially disrupted the plant’s operations. We emphasize that ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is a civilian industrial facility and an important workplace employing thousands of people. It is not the first time that this enterprise has been targeted. In 2022, a Russian missile strike destroyed the plant’s rolling mill and killed one employee.
Just one day later, on 17 August, a massive Russian drone attack struck the territory of a DTEK Energy coal mine, where the organisation of NPGU operates, in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Valentyn Kapitanov, a 52-year-old miner, was killed. He was an internally displaced person from Toretsk in the Donetsk region who had relocated to Pavlohrad and found employment at the mine. Another worker was injured.
Mining and metallurgical workers are not only losing their livelihoods and colleagues; they are being forced to work under conditions where an ordinary working day can turn into a fight for survival.
The scale of the threat is reflected in the latest operational data of the State Labour Service of Ukraine. As of 19 August 2026, during August alone, 45 workers have been fatally injured as a result of hostilities at workplaces, while another 125 workers have sustained injuries of varying severity. Since the beginning of 2026, 298 workers have been killed and 1,270 injured as a result of hostilities at their workplaces.
The latest massive attack further demonstrates the immediate and escalating nature of the threat. During the night of 20 August, following the start of a massive combined Russian attack at approximately 18:00 on 19 August, Russian forces launched a large-scale aerial combined attack, with Kyiv and the Kyiv region among the main targets. In Kyiv, the death toll has risen to 16 people, while 33 people have been injured. A children’s hospital, a school and residential buildings were damaged. Apartments belonging to NPGU members were also damaged by the blast waves. This latest attack once again demonstrates that Russian strikes are directly affecting Ukrainian workers and their families, including those who live far from the frontline.
According to the UN HRMMU, at least 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 injured in Ukraine in July 2026, a 30 per cent increase compared to June 2026 (298 killed; 2,041 injured) and a 70 per cent increase compared to July 2025 (312 killed; 1,482 injured). Source: ukraine.ohchr.org/en/Protection-of-Civilians-in-Armed-Conflict-July-2026
For the trade union movement, these are not merely statistics. Behind every figure is a worker, a family, a group of colleagues, and a community living with pain and loss.
The situation in the Dnipropetrovsk region is particularly alarming. The region is a major centre of Ukraine’s mining, metallurgy and energy industries, employing thousands of members of our affiliated trade unions. Repeated attacks threaten not only individual workers but also the continued functioning of strategically important civilian industries and the economic survival of entire communities.
We therefore appeal to our brothers and sisters for solidarity and urgent support.
We respectfully ask you to:
• publicly condemn the deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian workplaces and workers;
• raise the issue of the safety and protection of Ukrainian workers within the relevant international and European trade union institutions;
• continue to support Ukrainian trade unions and their members who are working under conditions of war and extraordinary occupational risks; and
• amplify the voices of Ukrainian workers and trade unions in international advocacy, making clear that workplaces are not legitimate military targets and workers must not become victims of Russia’s war of aggression.
With solidarity,
Mykhailo Volynets,
Chairperson of the Independent Trade Unions of Miners of Ukraine
