A major television tower in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was destroyed on Monday when it was struck by several Russian rockets.
Footage shared on social media showed the antenna section of the 790ft steel structure crashing to the ground, with smoke billowing from it.
Oleg Synegubov, the governor of Kharkiv, wrote on the Telegram messaging app: “The occupiers struck the object of television infrastructure in Kharkiv.”
The official said there were no casualties because workers were sheltering at the time, but that the television signal had been interrupted. “That’s why we appeal to citizens once again: Trust only official sources of information,” he added.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is just 25 miles from the border with Russia and has been under almost constant bombardment in recent months.
The Kharkiv TV tower has been a frequent target since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.
On March 6 that year, the tower and surrounding administrative buildings were hit by eight Russian Fab-500 glide bombs fired from a fighter jet.
The plane was shot down by Ukrainian forces, with its pilot ejecting and being detained by Kyiv’s National Guard. A year later, the pilot was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Ukrainian judge.
Russian forces launched a similar attack on the Kyiv TV tower in a move to interrupt broadcasts in the early days of the war.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials warned on Monday that up to 25,000 Russian soldiers were trying to storm the Donetsk region city of Chasiv Yar. The mining city, on high ground about 10 miles west of Bakhmut, has become the main focus of Moscow’s eastern offensive.
“Chasiv Yar is ours now. The situation around the city is difficult, but the city is under full control of our defence forces. There is no Russian army in the city,” Nazar Voloshyn, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said.
Russian forces were “constantly storming” positions held by Kyiv without gaining a real foothold, he added.
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