José Andres promised to keep hard at work to feed Ukrainians amid the war with Russia, after his World Central Kitchen was struck by a missile in a tweet on Saturday April 16. The 52-year-old chef re-posted a video by his WCK colleague Nate Mook, while swearing to continue giving aid to Ukrainians. “The @WCKitchen team and our fellow Ukrainians are unnerved but safe after a missile attack on a restaurant in Kharkiv,” he wrote. “Giving food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience, resistance… and we will continue cooking.”
El equipo de @WCKitchen y nuestros compañeros ucranianos están enervados pero a salvo después de un ataque con misiles en un restaurante en Kharkiv.
Dar de comer en medio de una guerra insensata es un acto de valentía, de resiliencia, de resistencia…y seguiremos cocinando🇺🇦 https://t.co/jGO0gLBo7f
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) April 16, 2022
A day after the attack José gave an update to followers on Easter Sunday to condemn the atrocities of the attack, but also to celebrate the humanity of all the people working to help refugees. “The best of humanity shows up, unfortunately, in the worst moments of humanity, and this is what I want to celebrate on Easter,” he said. “A kitchen of ours, a partner, outside of Kharkiv was destroyed by a missile. We’ve got four wounded, friends, but they’re okay. Today, they moved the kitchen. They are going to be cooking tomorrow in another location. You see? The goodness always shines through, and we’re going to keep cooking and feeding as many people as we can.”
In Nate’s video, he showed the “tremendous amounts of damage” that the missile caused. He shared that four of the staff members were wounded, and while none of the restaurant workers were killed, he said that they had heard that one person had been killed in the “tremendous amount of carnage left behind for no reason.” He described the scene as “absolutely horrific brutality.”
Despite the wreckage, Nate shared another video of the WCK staff going back to work after the attack. “The work doesn’t stop! Today, the restaurant team is moving all food products & non-damaged equipment to another kitchen location in Kharkiv. The injured staff are doing well—and all the team here wants to continue cooking. Truly in awe at the bravery of our [WCK] partners,” he wrote.
The work doesn’t stop! Today, the restaurant team is moving all food products & non-damaged equipment to another kitchen location in Kharkiv. 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! pic.twitter.com/O5zayN0WOJ
— Nate Mook (@natemook) April 17, 2022
Shortly after Russia launched attacks on Ukraine, José announced that WCK would be stationed at the border in Poland to serve hot meals to refugees fleeing the terror in Ukraine, with the help of a $100 million award he received from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.