Kharkiv residents describe ‘pure horror’ after Russian attack on historic building

Residents in Kharkiv have described a Russian attack on Monday night on the city’s historic Derzhprom building as “pure horror” and an act of deliberate cultural vandalism against a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

A Russian bomb hit the Unesco-listed constructivist building shortly after 9pm. Nine people were injured. The skyscraper – completed in 1928 – suffered extensive damage. Four people died early on Tuesday in a separate strike on the city.

Derzhprom was designed to showcase Soviet innovation and a belief in the future. It was constructed when Kharkiv served as the capital of communist Ukraine. It survived the second world war and after Ukraine’s independence became a government office.

Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, called the concrete structure an architectural treasure for all of Ukraine. He said the strike by the Kremlin was “truly horrifying to see”. “If we look back at World War II, even Hitler couldn’t do what the Russians have done,” he added.

Volodmyr Zelenskyy said Derzhprom was “severely damaged”, in a night of several other Russian attacks, including on the president’s home city of Kryvyi Rih. Zelenskyy implicitly criticised the UN chief, António Guterres, who met Vladimir Putin last week at a Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

“Every handshake with war criminal Putin boosts his confidence. Every pleasant smile convinces him that he can get away with his crimes. Instead of cozying up to him, we must force him into peace through our collective decisiveness,” Zelenskyy posted on X.

The Derzhprom building before it was bombed. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Guardian

He added: “Appeasement never brings peace; it simply feeds the aggressor’s appetite … Adhering to shared principles saves human lives and cultural heritage. Compromising them brings death and ruin.”

Kharkiv has come under sustained assault since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion. After failing to occupy the city, the Russian army has pounded its centre and suburbs with artillery and ballistic missiles. In recent months, Russian war planes have dropped hundreds of aerial bombs.

Derzhprom is located in Kharkiv’s central cobbled Freedom Square. Previous attacks have pounded adjacent buildings including the regional state administration, the headquarters of the SBU security service and the five-star Kharkiv palace hotel, injuring journalists.

Residents said the latest bombing was another painful blow. “I feel such a deep pure horror, it’s unbearable. It’s the building I love the most in this effin world. For every Kharkiv local it’s the symbol of freedom and ingenuity,” Viktoriia Grivina – a Kharkiv writer and doctoral candidate – said.

Others said the building embodied Kharkiv’s stubborn resistance to Russia’s persistent and brutal attempts to take over. Maria Avdeeva, a security expert, pointed out that Derzhprom was the largest surviving constructivist monument in the world. “This is Russia strategy of terror and intimidation in action,” she said.

Avdeeva complained that Ukraine was vulnerable to relentless air attacks because the Biden administration – as well as the UK and France – have refused to give Kyiv permission to use western weapons against military targets deep inside Russia. Derzhprom’s Unesco-protected status “didn’t work”, she noted.