Russian bombardments of Ukraine are intensifying. As well as residential buildings, supermarkets and other public spaces, workplaces are also being targeted, killing or injuring workers. In the rail sector, our comrades in the KVPU railway workers’ union regularly report strikes targeting passenger trains. On 14 August, Ivan Shevchik and Vasyl Morozov, railway workers, were killed in a Russian strike against a passenger train in the Odessa region. At the time of the attack, they were in the locomotive and, despite the danger, attempted to move the train – which was carrying 340 passengers, including 67 children – as far away as possible as quickly as possible. We are publishing the latest statement from the KVPU miners’ union regarding the Russian attacks.

Statement by the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine – NPGU-KVPU – regarding Russian attacks on workplaces in the Dnipropetrovsk region

On 16 August 2026, the public limited company ‘ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih’ was struck by a Russian missile. Thirteen employees of the company and workers from subcontracting firms were injured and, sadly, one person lost their life. An NPGU trade union branch has condemned this latest act of terrorism against Ukrainian workers. The attack damaged essential production facilities, including energy infrastructure and blast furnaces, which has partially disrupted the company’s operations.

We emphasise that ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih JSC is a civilian industrial site and a key enterprise for the city’s development, employing thousands of people. This is not the first time the company has been targeted by the enemy. In 2022, a Russian missile strike destroyed the plant’s rolling mill and killed one employee.

Barely a day later, on 17 August this year, a massive attack by Russian drones struck the coal mine site of ‘DTEK Pavlogradvugillya’ JSC in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where the NPGU trade union is active. Valentin Kapitanov, a 52-year-old miner, lost his life. He was an internally displaced person, originally from Toretsk in the Donetsk region; he had settled in Pavlohrad and found a job at the mine. Another worker was injured.

Workers at the mining and metallurgical complex are not only losing their livelihoods and their colleagues; they are forced to work in conditions where an ordinary working day can turn into a struggle for survival.

The scale of the threat is illustrated by operational data from the Ukrainian National Labour Service. As of 19 August 2026, in August alone, 45 workers lost their lives at their workplace as a result of the fighting, and a further 125 were injured to varying degrees. Since the start of 2026, 298 workers have lost their lives and 1,270 have been injured as a result of military operations at their workplaces.

This latest large-scale attack demonstrates once again the immediate and growing nature of the threat. On the night of 19–20 August, following the launch of a massive combined offensive by Russia at around 6.00 pm on 19 August, Russian forces launched a large-scale combined air strike, with Kyiv and its surrounding region as the main targets. In Kyiv, 16 people were killed and more than 40 were injured. A children’s hospital, a school and residential buildings were damaged. Flats belonging to members of the National Trade Union of Mining and Energy Workers (NPGU) were also hit by the shockwaves. This latest attack demonstrates once again that Russian strikes are directly affecting Ukrainian workers and their families, particularly those living far from the front line.

According to data from the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (UNHRMMU), at least 437 civilians were killed and 2,610 were injured in Ukraine in July 2026. This represents a 30 per cent increase compared with June 2026 (298 killed, 2,041 injured) and 70 per cent more than in July 2025 (312 killed; 1,482 injured).

For the trade union movement, this is not simply a matter of statistics. Behind every figure lies a worker, a family, a group of colleagues and a community living through pain and bereavement.

The situation in the Dnipropetrovsk region is of particular concern. This region is a major hub for Ukraine’s mining, metallurgical and energy industries, where thousands of members of our affiliated trade unions work. These repeated attacks threaten not only workers, but also the future functioning of strategically important civilian sectors and the economic survival of entire communities.

We respectfully urge you:

- to publicly condemn the deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian workplaces and workers;
- to raise the issue of the safety and protection of Ukrainian workers within the relevant international and European trade union bodies;
- to continue to support Ukrainian trade unions and their members, who are working under wartime conditions and facing exceptional occupational risks;
- to give greater voice to Ukrainian workers and trade unions as part of an international defence effort, making it clear that workplaces are not legitimate military targets and that workers must not be made victims of such attacks.