In the last weeks, there has been increased chatter on the Ukrainian side about an imminent Russian attack on the large city of Kharkov, located near the border.
Sure enough, its power facilities have been heavily damaged by massive missile strikes.
Today, the attacks went a little further, as a cruise missile struck and broke in half a 240-meter television tower.
The attack would be part of a ‘deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine’s second largest city uninhabitable,’ according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Footage going viral online shows the main mast of the television tower breaking off and falling to the ground.
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 22, 2024
Reuters reported:
“The Ukrainian leader said he told U.S. 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.
The northeastern city of Kharkov with a population of 1.3 million lies just 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, making it an easy target for ballistic missiles and other weapons as Ukraine’s air defenses have dwindled.”
There have been no reported casualties in what appeared to have been a strike with a Kh-59 cruise missile.
“(Ukrainian authorities) said there was “temporarily” no television signal and that they were working to restore it, urging residents of the city and region without digital television signal to use cable or online television or the radio.”
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 22, 2024
Moscow has recently stepped up its attacks, while Ukraine is suffering a shortage of air defense capabilities. Kharkov and the surrounding region have experienced the most intense strikes.
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 22, 2024
While Reuters is usually satisfied with Zelensky’s explanations of events, we can learn a lot by paying attention to Russian sources.
Slavyangrad reported on the possible objectives for the attack:
“Communication – powerful repeaters were installed on it. propaganda (television/radio) was broadcast from the tower to the territory of the Belgorod region. This includes cellular communications, internet, and TV broadcasting.
(…) ‘Eyes’ – it is possible that the ‘Sova (Owl)’ system (an optical reconnaissance device) could be installed – a complex consisting of several IP cameras. They are all connected to a neural network, which calculates where the artillery is flying. This means they receive data from the point of impact as quickly as possible.
From a military perspective, a full range of reconnaissance and guidance system repeater antennas could be installed there. These are used for drone attacks on Russian territory, artillery reconnaissance, and detection and tracking systems for attack UAVs, ballistic and cruise missiles.”