Russia strikes Ukraine apartments, killing emergency workers

Kremlin forces launched drone strikes on several cities early Thursday morning. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, experienced the most casualties. An attack on a residential apartment building killed one woman. Three emergency workers died while responding to another Kharkiv strike when a second drone hit the same area. Ukrainians refer to this tactic as a “double tap,” where Russian forces strike an area to lure first responders and strike again once essential workers are on the scene. 

A dozen other people were injured in the strikes in the city, and three were in serious condition, according to the head of Kharkiv’s Regional State Administration Oleg Sinegubov. He said Thursday that at least 15 enemy drones were sent into Kharkiv during the attack. Ukrainian forces shot down 11 of the 20 total Russian drones deployed across the country on Thursday, according to a social media post from the military’s General Staff account.

What else was damaged during the civilian strikes? Mortar and artillery fire hit about 20 settlements of the Kharkiv region, injuring at least three more civilians, Sinegubov said. Over a dozen private homes and businesses were also damaged. The Institute for the Study of War, a military think tank, suggests Russia may be intensifying strikes to pressure the Ukrainian military to move resources away from the front lines and into other shell-shocked areas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the strike to petition allies for more air defense resources.

The attacks on civilians came soon after the country’s leaders lowered the conscription age to 25. At the same time, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell judged on Wednesday that Russia has revitalized its military resources over the last several months.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Russia blaming Ukraine and Western countries for the recent terror attack on a Russian music hall.