2024-04-24 00:25:00
A huge television transmission tower in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine’s second-largest city, was destroyed and split in two following being attacked by a Russian cruise missile.
On the 22nd (local time), the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinyehubou, announced that the TV tower, a television infrastructure, was attacked around 4:35 p.m. local time. This TV tower is a 240 m high structure built in the early 1980s, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and was attacked by a missile from regarding 140 m away.
The attack disrupted the city’s digital television signal, with the Special National Communications Agency saying the tower structure was “partially damaged” and work was underway to restore the broadcast signal. Digital television transmission in the Kharkiv region was interrupted, but cable television and wired and wireless communications were reported to work. The Russian army reportedly used Kh-59 missiles in this attack.
Video shared on social media shows smoke rising into the sky as the top of the TV tower was hit by a missile and fell to the ground. Later images showed the collapsed tower lying on the ground and the building next to the tower was badly damaged by falling debris.
People examine the collapsed remains of the upper part of a television tower partially destroyed Monday by a Russian missile attack on television infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine. /EPA Yonhap News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Russia’s clear intention is to make this city uninhabitable,” adding: “This is regarding making terrorism visible throughout the city of Kharkiv and limiting connectivity and access to information”. “The destruction of television towers is defined as a war crime under Ukrainian law and international humanitarian law,” said Oksana Romaniuk, director of the Institute of Public Information, a Ukrainian think tank. “We demand a thorough investigation and an appropriate response from the international community,” he said.
Kharkiv, with a population of 1.3 million, is an easy target for Russian attacks due to its geopolitical location less than 30 kilometers from the border. Russia attacked the Kharkiv TV tower in March 2022, shortly following its large-scale invasion began. Recently, it has intensified its attacks on Kharkiv, using missiles, glide bombs and drones to destroy energy infrastructure and kill civilians. In late March, Russia destroyed all of Kharkiv’s substations, leaving the city without reliable power supply.
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