Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian missile strike that destroyed television tower in Kharkiv, is part of the Kremlin's ongoing efforts to intimidate the population of Ukraine's second-largest city, which has been the subject of increasingly frequent attacks in recent weeks, the Associated Press reported, writes BTA.
The purpose of the strike was "to make terror visible to the whole city and try to limit Kharkiv's communication and access to information," Zelensky said in his address last night.
The northeastern part of Kharkiv Oblast sits on the roughly 1,000-kilometer front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been fighting each other for more than two years since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The front line hasn't changed much in the conditions of a war of attrition, which is mainly fought with artillery, drones and in the trenches.
Since late March, Russia has stepped up pressure on Kharkiv, apparently to take advantage of Ukraine's shortage of air defense systems. Russian units hit the local power grid and hit apartment blocks.
On Monday, a Russian X-59 missile struck the 250-meter-tall TV tower, hitting it roughly in the middle, causing part of it to collapse and the broadcast to stop.
A Washington think tank said Russia may be planning a ground attack on Kharkiv.
"Kremlin is conducting a coordinated air and information operation to destroy the city of Kharkiv, persuade Ukrainians to flee, force millions of Ukrainians to seek refuge elsewhere in the country before a possible future Russian offensive against the city or another part of Ukraine" , says an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War.