A restaurant run by celebrity chef José Andrés’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, was destroyed by a Russian missile attack, according to WCK CEO Nate Mook confirmed via Twitter on Saturday.
Why it matters: The United Nations warned last month that Ukraine’s food supply chain was “falling apart” under the pressure of the Russian invasion. The head of the UN World Food Program, David Beasley, said on Sunday that there was “no question” that Russian forces are using food as a weapon of war in Ukraine.
The big picture: “An update I hoped I never had to do. I’m at a @WCKitchen restaurant in Kharkiv where I met your amazing team less than 24 hours ago. A rocket got stuck today. 4 employees were injured. That’s the reality here – cooking is a heroic act of bravery,” Mook tweeted alongside a video showing destroyed buildings and burned cars behind him.
- Mook added in the video that while no one was killed at the restaurant, “we are told that one person was killed in this strike.” Injured employees were taken to the hospital, he said.
- In an update on Sunday, Mook tweeted that the injured staff “are doing fine” and that the restaurant’s team is already moving its groceries and undamaged equipment to a new kitchen location in Kharkiv.
- “To everyone who cares and sends well wishes to the team in Kharkiv, thank you very much, the injured are fine and everyone is ready and willing to start cooking elsewhere,” Andrés tweeted Sunday.