Russian missile strike targeted Kyiv’s TV Tower and Holocaust memorial, killing 5

The bombing in Ukraine’s capital city is the latest example of what international observers say are indiscriminate attacks by Russia’s forces on civilian targets. Although the Kremlin has said it is only targeting military infrastructure, missiles and artillery shells have struck residential areas in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other parts of Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion had caused 536 civilian casualties as of Tuesday — including the deaths of 136 people, 13 of whom were children — according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Nearly 680,000 people have also fled their homes for safety in neighboring countries.

Exclusive footage provided to The Washington Post captured the moments after the missile strike. In a chaotic scene, with nearby cars and buildings charred and missing windows, smoke filled the area and shots could be heard in the background. At least four bodies were ablaze as firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames. A Ukrainian man wearing military gear and holding a rifle was seen approaching a damaged Toyota SUV.

The Kyiv TV Tower was struck at least twice, according to videos verified by The Post that show the structure and the area immediately surrounding it.

In one video, a man stopped at an intersection is filming the TV Tower from approximately a quarter-mile away. A few seconds into the video, a ball of fire explodes at the site. It takes a few moments for the sound of the blast to reach onlookers.

“Everyone get down!” a man yells as he exits the car. “Closer to the ground, further away from the glass. There may be one more strike.”

From another vantage point, the bomb appears to hit close to the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site, which sits just west of the tower.

Broadcasting service has been partially restored following repairs to the tower, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote Tuesday evening on Telegram. He warned residents to avoid going outside and to consider spending the night in shelters. The city is bracing for an all-out assault amid fears that Russian troops would encircle the capital.

The Babyn Yar memorial was built on the site of the 1941 massacre of more than 33,000 people over two days during Nazi Germany’s campaign against the Soviet Union. The atrocity is one of the worst mass murders of Jews during the Holocaust of World War II.

Between 1941 and 1943, tens of thousands more Jews perished under Nazi forces, including almost the entire Jewish population in Kyiv, according to the memorial’s website.

Natan Sharanksy, who chairs the memorial’s advisory board, said in a statement that attacking Babyn Yar is a symbolic move as Russian leader Vladimir Putin “seeks to distort and manipulate the Holocaust” to justify his invasion in Ukraine.

“We must not allow the truth to — once again — become the victim of war,” the statement read.

On Thursday, Putin cited the “denazification” of Ukraine as one of the objectives of his military operations there, a claim long used in attempts to delegitimize Ukrainian nationalism but one that has been widely denounced by historians, observers and Ukrainian leaders.

In a video posted to his Facebook account, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Azman condemned the missile that struck the memorial site and said the action amounted to “a war crime.” He called on the Russian people to stop being complicit and to speak out against the Kremlin’s aggression. “I’m only saying what I see. I’m not afraid to die. I could never imagine in my worst nightmare that I could die under Russian shelling,” Azman said.

“Nazis killed over 33 thousand Jews here,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter, referring to Babyn Yar. “80 years later, Russian Nazis strike the same land to exterminate Ukrainians. Evil and barbaric.”

Cheng reported from Seoul.