Moment TV tower snaps in half in Russian attack
Russia's rockets took out the tower.
This is the disturbing moment Russian airstrikes toppled the television tower in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Footage circulating on social media shows the 790ft-tall structure in the outskirts of Kharkiv snapping in half.
Its upper half is seen collapsing to the ground moments after the strike, at about 5.30pm local time.
Plumes of grey smoke filled the sky above the city, which has become target of a wave of Russian airstrikes.
People in an office building based a few roads away from the station filmed the attack.
It was not clear from the video what had hit the mast, but prosecutors said Russia had likely used a cruise Kh-59 missile in the attack.
Governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said: ‘The occupiers struck the TV infrastructure in Kharkiv.
‘Employees were sheltering during the alarm. There are no casualties. Currently, there are interruptions with the digital television signal.’
Explosions were first heard in Kharkiv, located less than 20 miles from the border with Russia, at about 4.35pm.
Part of the tower – the tallest infrastructure in the eastern city – plummeted to the ground, hitting a woodland.
This is the second time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion that Russia has targeted the structure.
In March 2022, the tower and the stations administrative building were struck by eight FAB-500 bombs from a Russian Su-3 fighter jet, sustaining heavy damage.
The latest strike comes after Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov warned that Russia is trying to turn the city into a ‘second Aleppo’.
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