A Russian bombing destroyed the television tower in the city of Kharkiv

A Russian bombing destroyed the Kharkiv television tower on MondayUkraine’s second city, and Kiev officials warned that a “difficult period” is expected on the front starting next month.

Russian army claims to have captured a new city located in the southwest Donetsk cityThe invasion took place in February 2022, a new example of increasing pressure by Moscow in the former Soviet republic, in the east of the country.

A journalist said that the structure of the 240 meter tall television tower collapsed halfway up. AFP, The facility had already been damaged following another Russian attack in March 2022.

“The occupiers attacked a television infrastructure in Kharkiv,” regional governor Oleg Sinegubov confirmed.

,Employees hid during the alert. there were no victims“, he said, specifying that there were “interruptions in the television signal”.

Photos spread across social networks and were recorded shortly after the impact, showing the top of the building falling in a cloud of gray smoke.

The city of Kharkiv, home to more than 1.4 million people before the war and located near the Russian border, has been attacked more frequently by Russian forces in recent weeks.

Its energy infrastructure was also attacked, causing major power outages in late March.

chairman Volodymyr Zelensky He traveled in early April to recently dug defensive lines in the area, where the front is about 40 kilometers from Kharkiv.

On the front, where Russian troops have gained ground since the fall of Avdeevka in February, Moscow has claimed responsibility for capturing the town of Novomikhailivka, about 30 km from Donetsk.

The city is located near Vugladair, a city at the crossroads of the southern and eastern fronts that Russia has been trying to conquer for two years.

Several cities have fallen into Russian hands in recent weeks, at a time when the Ukrainian army is facing shortages of ammunition and military personnel, and when Western military aid has been slow to arrive.

After months of waiting, US House of Representatives approves $61 billion aid for Kiev, But the text must still be approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov acknowledged on Monday that the situation at the front was set to worsen by mid-May and June. He stressed that this would be a “difficult period” for Ukraine.

Budanov warned in an interview with the Ukrainian Service that the Russian military is “carrying out a complex operation.” BBC, “We feel that a difficult situation awaits us in the near future. But you have to understand that it will not be catastrophic,” he acknowledged.

In February, Moscow managed to capture Avdeevka. And today he wants to win Chasiv yaar,

The town is 30 km southeast of Kramatorsk, the main city of the Donetsk region, which is still under Ukrainian control and is an important railway and logistics hub for the military.

Kiev fears an even more powerful Russian attack. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, warned in mid-April that the situation on the eastern front had deteriorated “significantly”.

Major Ukrainian counteroffensives in the summer of 2023 ran into strong Russian defensive lines, draining Ukrainian military resources.

(With information from AFP)