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Russia is bombing the same targets moments apart to kill Ukrainian rescue crews that arrive to save survivors
Jake Epstein – April 22, 2022
- Russian forces are using a vicious bombing strategy to target rescue workers in Ukraine, according to multiple reports.
- Putin’s troops have fired on the same target moments apart, catching rescue crews helping survivors in the second attack.
- Russia was accused of carrying out these ‘double tap’ attacks during the Syrian Civil War.
Russian forces are bombing the same targets just moments apart to try and kill Ukrainian rescue crews that arrive to save survivors, according to multiple reports.
In two months of war, several ‘double-tap’ attacks have been reported in the bombarded northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
As recently as April 17, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that it witnessed a double-tap attack in Kharkiv.
An ABC team was following a local Red Cross unit when Russian missiles hit a nearby building. A few minutes later, after the Red Cross, paramedics, and Ukrainian troops arrived at the scene to help survivors, a second missile attack hit the building.
Five civilians were killed that day, according to the ABC.
Another double-tap strike in Kharkiv was recorded last month, according to a recent report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Russian forces on March 1 launched a cruise missile strike at a government building in the city’s Freedom Square. A few minutes later, when rescuers arrived to look for survivors, a second rocket hit the building.
At least ten people were killed and dozens more were injured in the attack, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a “war crime” and “state terrorism.”
Despite the danger caused by double-tap strikes, firefighters in Kharkiv have routinely showed up to put out fires caused by strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The double-tap strategy is not new to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s playbook, either.
Russia was accused multiple times in recent years of launching double-tap attacks during the Syrian Civil War, killing scores of civilians and rescuers.
The OSCE has said the vicious attacks are a violation of international law. It’s not immediately clear if double-tap strikes have occurred in other cities around Ukraine.