Russian double-tap strikes hit civilians then rescuers too
By Vitaly Shevchenko
On the night of 3 April, a swarm of Russian drones attacked Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast.
The country’s second-largest city has been targeted almost incessantly since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
But this time was worse than usual, because, when rescue workers arrived at the scene, there was a second strike. Three of them were killed.
The following Friday, it happened again when Russian missiles hit Zaporizhzhia, a major city in Ukraine’s southeast.
Rescuers and journalists rushed to the scene, and then two more missiles hit.
In total, four people were killed and more than 20 were wounded, including two local journalists.
Both the Kharkiv and the Zaporizhzhia attacks employed a technique called “double-tap” – when an initial air strike is followed by a second attack, killing rescuers trying to help the injured.
Russia has carried out this kind of repeat attack before. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a strike on a building in the southern city of Odesa in March that killed 20 was a double-tap, and called it a “despicable act of cowardice”.
