Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says Russian strike collapsed Kharkiv TV tower
Al Jazeera
Ukrainian president tells Joe Biden that Russian attack on the tower is part of a plan to make the city ‘uninhabitable’.
A Russian missile strike that broke in half a 240-metre (787-foot) television tower in Kharkiv is part of a deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine’s second-largest city uninhabitable, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
On Monday, dramatic video footage showed the main mast of the television tower breaking off and falling to the ground in the city, which has been pounded by missile and drone strikes for weeks.
Zelenskyy said he told US President Joe Biden about the air strike that was carried out several minutes before they spoke by telephone.
“It is Russia’s clear intention to make the city uninhabitable,” he said, according to a readout of the call published on the Telegram messaging application.
The northeastern city of Kharkiv has a population of 1.3 million and lies just 30km (19 miles) from the Russian border, making it an easy target for ballistic missiles and other weapons as Ukraine’s air defences have dwindled.
