A charity kitchen set up in Ukraine by celebrity chef José Andrés has been destroyed in a Russian missile strike that left four of its workers wounded.
The World Central Kitchen in Kharkiv was reduced to rubble on Saturday, as the northeastern city came under a brutal assault by Russian forces.
CEO Nate Mook announced the news on Twitter, sharing a video of himself at the scene of the attack and revealing that staff members had been injured.
“An update I hoped I’d never have to make. I’m at a @WCKitchen restaurant in Kharkiv, where less than 24 hours ago I was meeting with their amazing team,” he wrote alongside a video of himself standing among the debris following the attack.
“Today, a missile struck. 4 staff were wounded. This is the reality here — cooking is a heroic act of bravery. #ChefsForUkraine.”
In the video, Mr Mook confirmed that all of the World Central Kitchen workers survived the attack and that those injured were taken to hospital for treatment.
However, he said that not everyone was lucky to escape unscathed, revealing that he had learned of at least one person killed in the strike.
He showed the camera what remained of the kitchen area as he stood amid the rubble from surrounding buildings and burned-out cars.
Mr Mook describes the “tremendous amount of damage” with fire still raging inside a building and parts of vehicles stuck in trees after being blown into the air from the blast.
“This was a big hit as you can see. Over a dozen cars burned out all around me. Pieces of cars in a tree here. Just a tremendous amount of carnage left behind for no reason. In this area, there are offices, there are residences,” he said.
“People live here. People work here. People cook here and that’s it. I don’t really know what else to say just absolutely horrific brutality.”
He added that “this is the reality for so many now in Kharkiv, coming to work, cooking for people who are hungry is an immense act of bravery”.
On Sunday, Mr Mook later shared a photo of the heroic team members recovering in hospital as he said they were determined to get back to feeding people in need as soon as they can.
“I want to introduce you to 3 brave staff from @WCKitchen restaurant Yaposhka!” he wrote alongside the photo.
“Yulia, Liza, and Yulia are in good spirits & recovering in the hospital after the missile attack. Yulia—next to me—said she’s excited to come back to help feed 1000s once her burns heal. True heroes!”
The restaurant team is relocating from the destroyed site to another location in Kharkiv, he said.
“The work doesn’t stop! Today, the restaurant team is moving all food products & non-damaged equipment to another kitchen location in Kharkiv,” he said.
“The injured staff are doing well—and all the team here wants to continue cooking. Truly in awe at the bravery of our @WCKitchen partners!”
Mr Andrés, who launched the nonprofit to feed people during wars and humanitarian disasters around the world and has been on the ground in Ukraine and at the border delivering meals to people in need, also confirmed the kitchen had been hit.
“The @WCKitchen team and our fellow Ukrainians are unnerved but safe after a missile attack on a restaurant in Kharkiv,” he tweeted.
“Giving food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience, resistance... and we will continue cooking.”
The celebrity chef began delivering meals to the people of Ukraine within hours of Russia declaring war on the country back in February.
Through partnering with local restaurants, caterers, and food trucks, World Central Kitchen is now giving out around 30,000 meals every single day across 30 cities in the country.
As well as sites within Ukrainian communities, the nonprofit has also set up at border crossings such as in Poland.
Mr Andrés told The Independent last month that “feeding is the best form of fighting” in the midst of a war zone.
“I have always believed in the power of food to change the world,” he said.
“And in this situation, a plate of food cannot be the thing that solves the war, but maybe it can bring some comfort and hope, some light during a long and difficult journey.”
He added: “We are watching, in real time, one of the fastest growing refugee crises in modern history, and each person who is leaving home has their own story, their own life, their own families who rely on them.
“This is why I needed to go, and to have the women and men of World Central Kitchen do everything they could do to help. The people of Ukraine, we are one with them. Everyone in the world is Ukrainian right now.”
The organisation was created in 2010 and has provided meals to people in the wake of natural disasters such as Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the 2018 Kilauea volcano eruption.
Despite years of experience, Mr Andrés said that supply chain issues were making their job more difficult to achieve in Ukraine.
That said, he added they always “find a way” and do their best to provide some comfort to the people who have been forced to leave their homes.
“A small girl at one of the shelters told our team that her favorite food is buckwheat stew with chicken wings … so that’s what we made for her and the other families staying at the shelter,” he recalled.
The attack on the World Central Kitchen site came as Vladimir Putin increased his assault on Kharkiv over the weekend as Ukrainian officials say Russia is starting an anticipated new offensive in the east of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday night that 18 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in shelling over the last four days in the northeastern city.
“This is nothing but deliberate terror: mortars, artillery against ordinary residential quarters, against ordinary civilians,” he said.
On Monday, officials said that two more people had been killed in Russian shelling in Kharkiv.
