Russian airstrike destroyed television tower in Kharkiv, Ukraine – Zelenskyy

A Russian missile broke a 240-meter TV tower in Kharkiv. President Zelenskyy said this is part of Russia’s plan to make the city unlivable.

Exciting video from Reuters showed the tall pole of the TV tower breaking and falling to the ground in a city that has been hit by missile and drone attacks for weeks.

The leader of Ukraine told the US President Joe Biden about the airstrike that happened a few minutes before they talked on the phone.

“He said Russia wants to make the city impossible to live in,” according to a message on the Telegram app.

Later, during his video speech at night, the president said that the attack was a clear attempt to scare people and make the city feel unsafe. It was also an attempt to limit Kharkiv’s ability to communicate and access information.
Near the border

The city of Kharkiv is in the northeast and has 1.3 million people. It is only 30 km from the Russian border, which makes it an easy target for missiles and other weapons because Ukraine’s air defenses are not strong.

The energy system has been badly damaged by Russia’s big attacks.

“Right now, the digital TV signal is not working well,” said the regional governor Oleh Synehubov.

No one got hurt because the workers had found a safe place to stay.

Synehubov said that a missile attack started a fire at a poultry farm near Kharkiv, but no one got hurt. And lawyers said that one person died in the bombing of a village to the southeast of the city.

Reuters recorded a video showing the fallen part of the tower in a nearby forested area. The buildings next to the tower were severely damaged by falling pieces of the tower.

The State Special Communications Service said the tower was partly damaged, possibly from a Kh-59 missile strike.

The message said the TV signal was temporarily not working. They were trying to fix it. They told people to use cable, online TV, or the radio instead.

The video from Reuters did not show the missile hitting, but it did show a big cloud of smoke and the mast falling down.

The video was confirmed by comparing it with another video from a different angle that also showed the top of the tower falling down at the same time.

In early March 2022, Russia attacked Kharkiv’s television tower multiple times after starting a big invasion. The signal was interrupted.

Recently, Moscow has increased its attacks, and Ukraine does not have enough ways to defend against them in the air. Kharkiv and the nearby area have had the strongest attacks.