Moment giant TV tower collapses in cloud of smoke during Russian bombing raid on Ukraine’s second biggest city Kharkiv
This is the shocking moment a giant TV tower collapsed in a cloud of smoke during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s second-largest city.
The grand, 230-meter-tall TV tower was taken apart in war-torn Kharkiv on Monday after officials reported a Russian airstrike on the city.
Video footage and photos posted on social media showed the top of the tower breaking off and gray smoke pouring from the structure shortly after the attack.
Kharkov Governor Oleg Synegubov said in a social media post that Russia had hit a “television infrastructure facility in Kharkov.”
According to Synegubov, the hit led to widespread communications disruptions in the city.
Kharkiv’s 220-metre-tall television tower was destroyed today in a Russian airstrike
‘Employees were taking shelter during the alarm. There are no victims. At the moment there are interruptions in the digital television signal,” he added.
Footage of the incident, captured by a local resident from a building window, showed the moment the tip of the tower collapsed to the ground in what appears to be a wooded area.
Although no explosion occurs when the metal piece hits the ground, thick smoke can be seen in the sky above the destroyed TV tower as the sun shines on the rest of the city.
Following the Russian airstrike, the European Center for Press and Media Freedom said: ‘The Russian destruction of a television tower in Kharkiv is an attack on press freedom and access to information.
“We condemn this act of aggression against the media infrastructure and stand with all journalists who are committed to reporting the truth in times of war.”
The Kharkiv TV Tower is a steel truss television tower used for FM and TV broadcasting in Kharkiv.
It was once the tallest building in the city and the fifth tallest TV tower in Ukraine.
Images circulate on social media of the moment the steel structure fell over after an impact
However, this is not the first time that Russia has hit the Kharkov TV Tower, as during the Battle of Kharkiv, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on March 6, 2022, the station’s tower and administrative building were hit by eight FAB -500 bombs from a Russian Su-3 fighter jet.
The station building and the self-supporting mental structure of the tower suffered heavy damage as a result of the hit.
The fighter jet was shot down by Ukrainian forces shortly after the bombs fell.
The Russian pilot was ejected, landed and was held by the Ukrainian National Guard before being sentenced to 12 years in a Ukrainian prison a year later.
Today’s strike comes amid a broader campaign of Russian attacks aimed at destroying Ukrainian infrastructure.
Several attacks in recent months have dangerously targeted Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, as Russia continues its offensive in the war-torn country.
Earlier this month, it was warned that a drone strike that hit Russia’s Zaporizhizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine three times could lead to a “major” radiation incident, the UN nuclear watchdog said at the time.
During the attack, one of the facility’s six reactors was hit, injuring three people.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) previously urged both Moscow and Kiev to refrain from attacking the Zaporizhizhia plant.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi deemed the strikes “reckless” and “a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security threats” facing the plant.
Ukrainian spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate Andriy Yusov accused Russia of endangering not only the plant but also the civilian population and the environment by launching attacks on a nuclear facility.
In 2022, Ukraine retook large swathes of territory in the Kharkov region as it fought back Moscow’s forces after beginning the invasion that year.
The Kharkiv TV Tower is a steel truss television tower used for FM and TV broadcasting in Kharkiv
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has chillingly warned that Russia could try to gain control of Ukraine’s second-largest city after the capital Kiev.
He told German newspaper Bild: “Kharkov is one of the capitals of Ukraine, so it has a great symbolic meaning.”
He added that Ukraine is doing “everything we can” to prevent Russian troops from taking the city.
Zelensky warned that Russia could launch a summer offensive as early as late May, adding: “We will prepare for their attack.”