Moment giant TV tower collapses in cloud of smoke during Russian bombing raid ... trends now
This is the shocking moment a giant TV tower collapsed in a cloud of smoke during a Russian bombing raid on Ukraine's second biggest city.
The major 790ft-tall TV tower was broken apart on Monday in war-torn Kharkiv, after officials reported a Russian air attack on the city.
Video footage and photographs posted on social media showed the top of the tower snapping off and grey smoke billowing from the structure moments after the strike.
Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov said in a social media post that Russia had hit a 'television infrastructure facility in Kharkiv.'
According to Synegubov, the hit prompted widespread communications outages across the city.
The 790ft Kharkiv TV Tower was today destroyed in a Russian air strike
Footage circulating on social media captured the moment the steel structure came toppling down after being hit
The Kharkiv TV Tower is a steel truss television tower used for FM and TV broadcasting in Kharkiv
'Employees were sheltering during the alarm. There are no casualties. At the moment, there are interruptions with the digital television signal,' he added.
Footage of the incident captured by a local from a building window, showed the moment the towers point plummeted groundward into what appears to be a forest area.
Although there is no explosion when the metal piece hits the ground, thick smoke can be seen lingering in the air above the destroyed TV tower as the sun shines down onto the rest of the city.
Following the Russian air attack, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom said: 'Russia's destruction of a TV tower in Kharkiv is an attack on press freedom and access to information.
'We condemn this act of aggression against media infrastructure and stand with all journalists working to report the truth in times of war'.
The Kharkiv TV Tower is a steel truss television tower used for FM and TV broadcasting in
