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.
“They are monsters, with no civilised values. The Russians bring hell,” said Denys Bohdanov as he surveyed the damage. The powerful FAB-500 bomb hit third floor-offices, sheering off a corner of the building and exposing an internal zig-zag staircase.
Windows were blown out. On Tuesday rescuers tossed glass and door frames from broken upper stories onto a courtyard below. A truck and digger scooped up debris. Many of the rooms inside were wrecked, with buckled ceilings and walls, and thick dust.
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 two, 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.
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.”
A Russian air strike severely damaged the Derzhprom in Kharkiv, one of the world's most famous constructivist buildings under provisional enhanced UNESCO protection.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 28, 2024
In Kryvyi Rih, a Russian missile struck a residential building, causing a fire. Many other Ukrainian cities and… pic.twitter.com/OfWnTAEtze
A blast wave destroyed several modern paintings being exhibited on the ground-floor. Curator Oleksandr Afanasiev said the worst affected offices belonged to Kharkiv’s regional administration and to its court. “We can rebuild, of course. But it takes time and resources,” he pointed out.
Those injured included a police officer and a female security guard who was inside when the strike happened. On Tuesday workers brought in plywood to board up windows, navigating steep, nearly a century old stairwells. The lift no longer worked. In the street outside, men repaired a damaged cafe and shops.
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.
Bohdanov, a historian turned rescue worker, said Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine was the product of longstanding jealousy and an “imperial complex”. “They’ve been like this for centuries,” he said. “They hate us because we live better than they do. They are morons. Even the Nazis didn’t try and wipe out Derzhprom.”
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.
