‘Double tap’ rocket massacre kills at least 14 people in Odesa and injures dozens of others: Russian strike hits homes, with second strike timed to kill rescuers

A “double tap” Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa killed at least 14 people and injured 46 others, including emergency workers who rushed to the scene to rescue the first victims, local officials said.

The two waves of strikes early Friday resulted in one The rocket hit homes before a second was shot at the same location as emergency services arrived on the scene, authorities said.

A paramedic and an emergency worker were among those killed, with photos from the scene showing the victims in pools of blood and the firefighters covered in dust.

At least 10 houses in Odesa were damaged in the attack, which caused a fire, which firefighters fought despite the looming threat, according to Ukraine’s emergency services and regional governor Oleh Kiper.

After the brutal attack by Vladimir Putin’s forces, bodies littered the streets of the residential area early on, and a day of mourning was declared in Odesa Oblast on March 16.

Emergency services work at the scene of a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine on Friday, March 15

Fires raged at the scene of the attack, with emergency workers fighting to bring them under control

Medical personnel assisting an injured rescue worker after a rocket attack in Odessa

The tactic of firing a second missile at the same location, aiming to hit rescuers, is known in military parlance as a double tap.

Such attacks often target civilians, as was the case today, and it is a method Russia has used in the past with devastating consequences.

In August last year, two Iskander rockets hit the city center of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, killing nine people, including civilians, a first responder and a soldier.

The number of injured exceeded 80 in the double attack, which hit 12 high-rise buildings, a hotel, a pharmacy, shops and cafes, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia.

The number of civilian deaths has continued to rise as a result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Two people were killed and three injured in Ukraine’s central Vinnytsia region last night after Russia attacked a building with a drone, according to regional governor Serhii Borzov.

An injured rescuer was left covered in dirt and with a huge tear in his jacket after the chaos

Firefighters extinguish a blaze amid rubble after ‘double tap’ attack destroyed ‘at least ten’ homes

Rescuers bring an injured colleague to the site of the Russian missile attack

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down all 27 Shahed drones that Russia launched over the Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi and Kiev regions.

The attack came as Russians voted in a presidential election that will almost certainly extend Vladimir Putin’s rule for another six years.

The elections come amid a brutal Kremlin crackdown that has paralyzed independent media and prominent rights groups, putting Putin in full control of the political system. as Moscow’s war in Ukraine enters its third year.

Voters cast their ballots from Friday to Sunday at polling stations across the vast country’s 11 time zones, as well as in illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.

Ukraine and the West have also condemned Russia for holding votes in Ukrainian regions captured and occupied by Moscow’s forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will secure a new six-year term in the Kremlin

In many ways, Ukraine is at the center of these elections, political analysts and opposition figures say.

Putin wants to use his virtually assured election victory as proof that the public supports his approach to the war, which he continues to call a “special military operation.”

Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kiev’s forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian allies on the other.

Tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides have been killed and many more injured, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are dead, and Ukraine’s economy and infrastructure have suffered hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage.