Russia’s eastern offensive has begun, Ukraine says, as strikes rock Lviv

Nate Mook stands between two buildings in what was once a street in Kharkiv, the war-torn city in northeast Ukraine. The road is littered with debris and the charred skeletons of once-operable vehicles. The windows of both buildings have been blown out, and the walkway between the structures looks as if it would collapse with the weight of a single human being.

On Saturday, around noon Ukraine time, a missile hit this section of Kharkiv, and Mook, chief executive of World Central Kitchen, is explaining that, once again, Russian forces have attacked a civilian area. This time, it was a restaurant operating as a relief kitchen with support from WCK, the organization founded by chef and humanitarian José Andrés. Four staff members of the ghost kitchen, part of the Yaposhka chain of restaurants in Ukraine, were hospitalized with burns, some severe.

It’s the first time, in the 12 years since WCK was founded, that one of its relief kitchens has come under attack. It’s also the first time WCK has operated in a war zone.