A Russian missile strike that broke in half a 240m television tower in Kharkiv yesterday is part of a deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine’s second largest city uninhabitable, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Footage obtained by Reuters showed the main mast of the television tower breaking off and falling to the ground in the city that has been pounded by missile and drone strikes for weeks.
The Ukrainian leader said he told US President Joe Biden about the airstrike that was carried out several minutes before they spoke by telephone.
“It is Russia’s clear intention to make the city uninhabitable,” he said in a readout of the call published on the Telegram messaging app.
An AFP journalist in Kharkiv saw the red-and-white spire of the structure toppled a barrage by Russian forces.
The northeastern city of Kharkiv, with a population of 1.3mn, lies just 30km from the Russian border, making it an easy target for ballistic missiles and other weapons as Ukraine’s air defences have dwindled.
“At the moment there are interruptions to the digital television signal,” regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
There had been no casualties because its workers had taken shelter, he added.
Russia first attacked Kharkiv’s television tower several times in early March 2022 soon after it launched its full-scale invasion.
Moscow has recently stepped up its attacks, while Ukraine is suffering a shortage of air defence capabilities.
Zelensky has warned that Moscow would try to score battlefield victories before May 9 – a patriotic Russian holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany – “regardless of its losses”.