Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant shut down in Russia after drone attack - sources
Kyiv • UNN
The Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant, an important facility of the Russian military-industrial complex, was shut down after Ukrainian special services attacked power substations in the Belgorod region of Russia.
As a result of a joint operation of the GUR and the SZR, an electrometallurgical plant, which is extremely important for the Russian military-industrial complex, the Oskol Ugarov Electrometallurgical Plant (OEMK), has stopped working. This was reported to UNN journalist by sources.
As a result of a drone attack on the night of July 1, a unique facility of the Russian military-industrial complex, the Oskol Ugarov Electrometallurgical Plant (OEMK), which is the only full-cycle metallurgical enterprise in Russia, was seriously damaged
UNN's source said that the operation was carried out jointly by the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Foreign Intelligence Service.
According to sources in the special service, the plant stopped working as a result of kamikaze drones hitting two major power substations in the Belgorod region: Stary Oskol substation near the village of Neznamovo and Metallurgicheskaya substation near the village of Volokonovskoye. The Metallurgical substation is one of the largest power substations in Europe.
As a result of the operation, the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant, the only full-cycle metallurgical enterprise in Russia that uses direct iron reduction and electric furnace melting technology to produce metal that is virtually free of harmful impurities and residual elements, was reportedly completely de-energized.
The power outage shut down all electric arc furnaces with frozen metal. To restart them, the furnaces need to be completely cleaned and the arc elements replaced, which may take several months. Some OEMK employees believe that the furnaces will have to be replaced. Given that OEMK was built by German specialists using German technology, it will likely be difficult to restart the plant's operations without their participation.
The Electrometallurgical Plant is of exceptional importance for the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. The facility produces high-quality steel, including alloyed specialty steels (SBQ) for the automotive and mechanical engineering industries, using the blast-free direct reduction technology MIDREX and electric arc melting. The plant's products are used by the following Russian military-industrial enterprises, among others:
- GAZ (rolled billets for automotive sheet steel production; billets for stamping automotive frames; rolled billets for armor plates for light armored vehicles; billets for body production);
- UAZ (rolled billets for the production of automotive sheet steel; billets for stamping automotive frames; rolled billets for the production of armor plates for light armored vehicles)
- KAMAZ (rolled billets for automotive sheet steel production; billets for stamping automotive frames; rolled billets for manufacturing armor plates for light armored vehicles);
- factories of the EPK and SKF bearing companies (producing bearings for military equipment, among other things);
- AVTONORMAL enterprise (produces fasteners for automotive and defense plants, in particular, all types of high-strength kingpins, bolts, and other elements used for the manufacture and repair of automotive and armored vehicles);
On April 2, 2023, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Metalloinvest Holding and Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant were included in the blocking sanctions lists of the United States and the United Kingdom.
