At least 7 people were killed and 81 others injured after Russian "double-tap" missile strikes on Monday at Pokrovsk city in the partially occupied Donetsk region, authorities informed on Tuesday. The two missiles hit the downtown area within 40 minutes of each other, as per Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Among the dead were one rescue worker and a military personnel, while two children, 31 police officers and seven emergency workers were among those injured in the attacks, said Kyrylenko. Iskander missiles, which contain an advanced guidnace system, were used in the attacks.
The 'double-tap' tactic was previously used by Russia in Syria's civil war and has been regularly used in Ukraine since the war began last year, often striking emergency workers deployed at the targeted sites.
Accusing Russia of deliberately targeting rescue workers, Ukraine's National Police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said, "All of (the police) were there because they were needed, putting their efforts into rescuing people after the first strike. They knew that under the rubble were the injured - they needed to react, to dig, to retrieve, to save. And the enemy deliberately struck the second time."
As many as 12 multi-storey buildings were damaged in the attacks, along with a hotel and a pharmacy, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accuse Moscow of leaving nothing but "broken and scorched stones" in the eastern part of the country. However, the popular hotel struck by the second strike has been empty for five weeks, reported CNN.
As per the State Emergency Service, debris cleanup had resumed by Tuesday while rescue operations near a damaged five-story residential building were also underway.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in a report last year accused Russia of carrying out a double-tap attack in Kharkiv as well as other “clear patterns” of violations of international humanitarian law. Russian missiles and artillery have struck civilian areas multiple times.
The latest attacks come after two people were killed and nine injured after overnight shelling in in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Four Russian 'guided bombs' were also dropped on a village near Kharkiv's Kupainsk.
The fighting in Ukraine has escalated after Russia announced to halt of a crucial grain deal that allows the movement of agricultural goods from Ukraine to other countries.
(with AP inputs)
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