Official: Russians destroyed Kharkiv TV tower, city’s “highest object,” to intimidate people (photos)

KHARKIV, UKRAINE, Apr 23 — On April 22, Russian troops hit a Kharkiv TV tower with a Kh-59 missile, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration.

No casualties have been reported, though the attack caused TV signal outages in some areas of the city and the surrounding communities.

Piece of Kharkiv TV tower that Russians hit with an X-59 missile in an attack on the city on April 22 / Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Ivan Sokol, Director of the Civil Defense Department of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, told the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the TV tower itself can be restored only after the end of combat, adding that the specialists are still disassembling the damaged equipment to determine whether it can be repaired.

“In my opinion, it was an attempt to intimidate the population of Kharkiv and the nearest communities,” Sokol added.

“Imagine, in the middle of the day, at 4:40 p.m., a missile attack was launched at the tower, which is the highest object in the city of Kharkiv. Of course, it worried people a bit. This strike was aimed at intimidating the population of the Kharkiv region.”

Russians destroyed the Kharkiv TV tower with a missile attack on April 22/ Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Russians destroyed the Kharkiv TV tower with a missile attack on April 22/ Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Sokol said that the missile hit a 250-meter tall tower (about 820 ft.) at the height of about 140 meters (about 460 ft.), collapsing the upper part of it.

On April 22, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Suniehubov said this attack might be used by Russians to spread the disinformation and urged people to trust information only from official sources.

The Institute of Study of War, a think tank and a research group, released a report on April 22, saying Russia uses “air and information attacks” to destroy Kharkiv, cause panic and fear for Kharkiv residents to flee in fear of “upcoming Russian offensive.” At the say time, ISW assesses that Russians lack resources to organize an offensive on Kharkiv, provided Ukraine receives US military aid assistance promptly.

Russians destroyed the Kharkiv TV tower with a missile attack on April 22/ Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Piece of Kharkiv TV tower that Russians hit with an X-59 missile in an attack on the city on April 22 / Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Photo credits: Russians destroyed the Kharkiv TV tower with a missile attack on April 22 / Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

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