Russian offensive: Apparently dead in attack on Kiev TV tower

A Russian attack is said to have hit the television tower in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv – five people were reportedly killed. Apparently there were other victims in Kharkiv as well.

According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops fired on the television tower in the capital Kyiv. According to authorities, five people were killed and five others injured. A control room and a substation were hit. According to local media reports, there were several explosions. Ukrainian television stations stopped broadcasting.

The Ukrainian parliament posted a photo showing the tower shrouded in smoke. It is located near numerous apartment blocks. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the structure of the television tower remained intact.

The television tower stands near the Babyn Yar gorge and the memorial to a massacre of Jewish Ukrainians committed there by the Wehrmacht during World War II. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, himself a Jew, denounced that the world is silent while bombs fall on Babyn Yar. “Once again these barbarians are murdering the victims of the Holocaust,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Mass panic and destroyed infrastructure”

According to one of Zelenskyy’s advisors, Russia is deliberately targeting residential areas and inner cities. “Russia’s goal is clear – mass panic, civilian casualties and destroyed infrastructure,” said Mykhailo Podoliak.

Russia vehemently denies this. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu accused Ukraine of using civilians as shields, according to the Interfax agency.

Klitschko: “Won’t give up”

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the situation as “threatening”. “The enemy wants to conquer the heart of our country. But we will fight and not give up on Kyiv,” he wrote on the Telegram news channel. He also warned against panic and false information.

ARDCorrespondent Demian von Osten said the TV tower was destroyed in order to stop Ukrainian reporting. Presumably, Russia is planning to bring in communications vehicles to spread pro-Russian channels and pro-Russian propaganda information. This strategy is already known from the annexation of Crimea.

Fears had previously grown that the Russian attacks on the capital Kyiv could face a new escalation. Satellite images taken on Monday showed a 60-kilometer Russian military convoy north-west of the capital.

Military commander assigned to Kyiv

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed a military commander for the capital. “Vitali Klitschko will remain mayor of Kyiv, he will have his area of ​​responsibility,” said the head of state in a video message.

According to Ukrainian information, the Russian military is also stepping up its attacks on other cities in the country. So in the morning there was a heavy explosion in the second largest city, Kharkiv. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a video on Twitter showing a rocket impact directly on the central Freedom Square.

According to the Interior Ministry, at least ten people were killed and 35 injured. Selenskyj called the attack “state terrorism”.

Control on the Sea of ​​Azov

Earlier, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the army had “taken control of the regions of Ukraine along the Azov Sea coast.”

Armed forces advancing up the coast from the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 have advanced as far as the pro-Russian separatist forces from Donetsk.

With this, Russia would have created a land connection between its heartland and the Crimean Peninsula. The information was not immediately verifiable. Shortly before, the Ukrainian army had reported that it had been able to prevent this troop concentration.

On Monday, Russian forces took over the port city of Berdyansk, which is roughly in the middle of the Ukrainian coast.

Several major cities are located in the coastal region of the Sea of ​​Azov, including the strategically important port city of Mariupol. After an offensive, the power supply failed there in the morning. Heavy shelling of the city was reported. Infrastructure as well as schools and houses were destroyed, said Mayor Wadym Boitschenko. “There are many injured. Women and children were killed.”

Eduard Bassurin, commander of the Donetsk separatist forces, stated that his aim was to “completely” encircle Mariupol.

Ukrainian Donetsk Region Governor Pavlo Kirilenko said the town of Volnovakha, an hour’s drive north of Mariupol, was largely “destroyed”.

Unclear information about victims

According to the regional administrator, Dmytro Shyvytskyi, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by Russian gunfire at a military base in Oktyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv. Zhyvytskyi later wrote on Facebook that many Russian soldiers and residents were killed in Sunday’s fighting. There is no independent confirmation of the information.

According to the United Nations, a total of 136 civilians have been killed and 400 injured since the Russian invasion began – but the actual numbers are likely “considerably” higher. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government reported 352 civilians killed and 2,040 injured.

The reports could not be independently verified. In addition, there is no reliable information about the losses of the Russian armed forces, since the government in Moscow does not present any figures. According to Ukrainian information, the Russians have lost 5,710 soldiers, 29 planes and 198 tanks so far.

According to the United Nations, more than 660,000 people have left Ukraine for neighboring countries since the invasion began. According to Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, around 400,000 people have arrived in Poland so far. The EU states have announced that they want to take in all refugees.