Ukrainian steel giant asks staff to work remotely amid May 9 attack fears

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, said on Monday that it had told staff to take Tuesday off or work remotely because of the threat of Russian air strikes.

The company, which employs about 20,000 people is located in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown, often the target of Russian drone and missile attacks.

A spokesperson said the measure reflected "the escalation of enemy attacks throughout the country and the downing of a reconnaissance drone in Kryvyi Rih, on Saturday.

Moscow has intensified air strikes this month as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russia's invasion.

It has also vowed to retaliate after blaming Kyiv for an apparent drone attack on Moscow's Kremlin citadel, for which Ukraine denied responsibility.

On Tuesday, Russia will commemorate the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, a major state holiday, with a Victory Day military parade across Red Square.

The steel company, which said it had also told staff not to come in to work on Monday, told staff in an internal memo not to ignore air alerts and to use air raid shelters, the spokesperson said.

Russia launched one of its biggest drone attacks on Ukraine in the early hours of Monday, attacking the capital Kyiv and other regions.

ArcelorMittal sharply cut production in Ukraine last year owing to the disruption to logistics and difficulty with energy supplies caused by the war.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash; editing by Tom Balmforth and Kevin Liffey)