Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, is under heavy shelling, with attacks on Saturday and Sunday killing at least seven people and injuring dozens of others, including four workers with chef José Andrés' World Central Kitchen.
World Central Kitchen is a nonprofit organization that goes to areas affected by natural disasters or conflict and teams up with partner restaurants to provide meals to local residents. World Central Kitchen CEO Nate Mook on Saturday tweeted a video showing the aftermath of a strike that hit near a partner kitchen. "People live here, people work here, people cook here, and that's it," he said. "I don't know what else to say. Just absolutely horrific brutality."
On Sunday, Mook provided an update on the injured World Central Kitchen workers, calling them "brave" and "in good spirits" while receiving treatment at a local hospital. Andrés also tweeted on Sunday that the team in Kharkiv is "ready and willing to start cooking in another location. ... All our friends are TRUE heroes! Many ways to fight, we do it with food!"
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, World Central Kitchen says it has distributed nearly 300,000 meals to people across the country, delivering them to the frontlines, bomb shelters, and hospitals.
Ukrainian officials said the rocket attacks in Kharkiv on Saturday and Sunday hit apartment buildings, markets, and shops, with many catching on fire.