Strategic destruction is an essential element of war. As our post-modern world is now embroiled in several conflicts certain similarities pop out, or explode so to speak. Intimidation is central to military thinking: evoke fear and the other side will back down. Communication is both a bastion of that fear and reason for hope.
Early this week (April 22), in the middle of the afternoon, a giant Russian Kh-59 cruise missile ripped the top off the huge TV tower in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The 240 meter (787 foot) structure folded in half, crashing into the transmitter building below. There were no injuries. "There are interruptions in the digital TV signal at the moment," said Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov, quoted by Kyiv Independent (April 22). Several FM radio stations using the tower continue to operate. Another official said rebuilding the Khakiv TV Tower will not begin until “hostilities cease.” The missile strike was meant to “make the terror visible to the whole city and to try to limit Kharkiv’s connection and access to information,” said Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, quoted by the AP (April 23).
Kharkiv is but 30 km from the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine and has been under intense bombardment. There is currently no stable electrical power supply. It is Ukraine’s second largest city, population 1.3 million. Being the tallest structure in Kharkiv, the TV tower is prominent in the skyline. It was built in the 1980s. In March 2022 five people were killed when the tower and nearby buildings were struck by eight bombs from a Russian SU-34 jet, which was subsequentially shot down, thepilot captured and jailed.
For added emphasis, reported Ukraine platform Media Detector (April 24), satellite service for the TV channel ZA Life was hacked and replaced with an announcement in Russian. The interruption lasted less than 30 minutes. Earlier Astra service for broadcaster 1+1 was jammed, taking out 39 channels. It is a common occurrence in Ukraine, often traced to the Russian Bear Lake cyber hacker center in the Moscow suburbs.