Ukraine says Russia targeting rescue workers after deadly Kharkiv drone strike

Ukraine accused Russia of targeting its first responders after three rescue workers were among four people killed in a “double-tap” drone strike on Kharkiv that also injured 12 people and cut power to 350,000 residents of the eastern city and nearby areas.

“A strike on Kharkiv, just an ordinary apartment building… A despicable and cynical attack, when the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists attacked again,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

“As a result of the attack, four people were killed. Among them were our rescuers: Vladyslav Lohinov, Serhii Baidalinov and Volodymyr Matiushenko. A civilian, Zoia Bondiukova, was also killed… Russian terrorists will be held accountable for their actions in Kharkiv and for all acts of aggression against our people.”

Ukraine’s state emergency service told national media that 91 of its staff had been killed and 348 injured in “double-tap” strikes, when a shell, drone or missile is fired at a place where rescue teams are working in response to an earlier attack.

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Russia has been accused of using the same tactic extensively in Syria, where its air force has conducted massive bombing raids in support of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

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The World Health Organisation said it had found that ambulance workers in Ukraine were three times more likely to be killed or injured than other healthcare staff in the country.

“This is a horrifying pattern,” said Dr Emanuele Bruni, the WHO incident manager in Ukraine. “Emergency health-care workers and services are dedicated to helping people in critical situations and must be protected in all circumstances. These attacks threaten their safety and further devastate communities that have been living under constant shelling for more than two years.”

The WHO said that since Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it had “verified 1,682 attacks on health care in Ukraine, resulting in 128 deaths and 288 injuries of medical personnel and patients”.

Russia claims to fire only at legitimate targets and says civilian buildings are hit when Ukraine shoots down missiles and drones. Moscow also insists that its current attacks on Ukraine’s power grid are justified because they disrupt its war effort.

Mr Zelenskiy said he heard reports from senior officials on the state of weapons supplies and air defences, and from Ukraine’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi on front-line actions that had “stopped the advance” of Russia’s invasion force in the east.

French president Emmanuel Macron condemned “bizarre and threatening” comments from Russia after a rare phone call between the countries’ defence ministers, in which Moscow repeated unfounded claims linking Ukraine to a recent gun attack on a concert hall in the city. The Islamic State terror group says its followers carried out the attack.

After France’s Sebastien Lecornu spoke to Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, Moscow’s defence ministry said that “the Kyiv regime does nothing without the approval of its western handlers” and “we hope the French special services were not involved”.

Mr Macron called the comments “bizarre and threatening” and said Russia’s insinuations over the terror attack were “ridiculous”.

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