A ‘double tap’ Russian missile strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa killed at least 14 people and injured 46 others, including emergency responders who rushed to the scene to save the first victims, local officials said.
The two waves of strikes early on Friday saw a missile hit houses, before a second was blasted into the same location as emergency crews arrived at the scene, authorities said.
Among those killed were a paramedic and an emergency service worker, with pictures from the scene showing victims lying in pools of blood and firefighters covered in dust.
At least 10 houses in Odesa were damaged in the attack, which started a blaze, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service and regional Governor Oleh Kiper, which firefighters battled despite the looming threat.
Bodies covered the streets of the residential area early following the brutal attack by Vladimir Putin’s forces, and a day of mourning has been declared in Odesa Oblast on March 16.
A firefighter who is covered in dust and is bleeding sits against a tree following the brutal attack
Emergency services work at the scene of a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Friday, March 15
Fires raged at the site of the attack, with emergency workers fighting to get them under control
Medical staff providing assistance to an injured rescuer following a missile attack in Odesa
The tactic of firing a second missile at the same location, aiming to hit rescuers, is known in military terms as a double tap.
Such strikes often hit 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 missiles hit Pokrovsk city centre in the Donetsk region, killing nine, including civilians, a first responder and a soldier.
The number of injured surpassed 80 in the double strike, which hit 12 high-rise buildings, a hotel, a pharmacy, shops and cafes, according to Ukrainian authorities, who blamed it on Russia.
Civilian deaths have continued to climb amid Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Overnight, two people were killed and three wounded in Ukraine’s central Vinnytsia region after Russia struck a building with a drone, according to regional Gov. Serhii Borzov.
An injured rescuer was left covered in dirt and with a huge rip in his jacket following the chaos
Firefighters extinguish a fire amid rubble after the ‘double tap’ attack wrecked ‘at least 10’ houses
Rescues carry an injured colleague at the site of the Russian missile strike
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down all 27 Shahed drones that Russia launched over Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv regions.
The attack occurred as Russians voted in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin‘s rule by another six years.
The election takes place amid a ruthless crackdown by the Kremlin, that has crippled independent media and prominent rights groups, giving Putin full control of the political system as Moscow’s war in Ukraine enters its third year.
Voters are casting their ballots Friday through 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 the vote in Ukrainian regions that Moscow’s forces have seized and occupied.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to secure another six-year term in the Kremlin
In many ways, Ukraine is at the heart of this election, political analysts and opposition figures say.
Putin wants to use his all-but-assured electoral victory as evidence that the public support his handling of the war, which he continues to refer to as a ‘special military operation’.
Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv’s forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed and many more wounded on both sides, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are dead and Ukraine’s economy and infrastructure have suffered damage worth hundreds of billions of dollars.