According to a report released by Truth Hounds (a Ukrainian non-profit that documents and investigates crimes of war), the Russian military conducted at least 36 double tap strikes against Ukraine between the start of the full invasion in February 2022 and August 2024. Over 100 people were killed. Twenty of these attacks were carried out in just this year.
Double-tap attacks are illegal military tactics in which a first strike is followed by an untimely second strike. This is usually done to kill or hurt first responders at the scene, and to cause panic in the population. This tactic has been used extensively by Russia in Ukraine, and in the past in Syria with Bashar al-Assad government forces.
Truth Hounds’ report confirms that Moscow deliberately uses double tap attacks to hinder humanitarian assistance efforts. Russian propaganda frames the killing of Ukrainian first-responders as justified.
Truth Hounds has verified 36 cases of Russian double tap strikes, despite the fact that the total number of incidents with double-tap characteristics exceeds 60.
According to a report entitled “Cruelty Cascade – Examining Patterns of Russian Double Tapping Strikes in Ukraine”, Russian forces have dramatically increased their use of this tactic since 2024. The verified cases for this year alone exceed the combined cases of the previous two years.
Truth Hounds verified that over 100 people died in the 36 double tap attacks. However, it is not clear how many of those deaths were caused by the secondary strikes. Roman Koval, head of research at the organization, told the Kyiv Independent.
Andrii Danyk reported in July 2024 that 93 emergency workers were killed and nearly 400 injured since the full-scale invasion began. However, not all of these deaths were due to Russia’s double tap attacks.
In a speech on April 25, Timothy Hanway, acting U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, (OSCE), said that Russian double-tap attacks have injured nearly 350 civilians between April 2022 and April 2024. Hanway also noted that Russia has been using this illegal tactic more frequently.
Truth Hounds, a non-profit organization, has been investigating and documenting international crimes, including severe human rights violations, in Ukraine and other conflict zones across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus since 2014. Their latest report examines the pattern and impact Russian double-tap attacks in Ukraine. It also offers a legal evaluation of these actions.
According to a press release from the organization, Truth Hounds, in collaboration with the White Helmets, a humanitarian group that helps communities prepare for, respond and rebuild after attacks, established “a strong link” between Russia’s double-tap attacks on Syria and Ukraine. In July 2023 the White Helmets announced that they had lost over 300 volunteers during the Syrian war. The majority of these were killed in double-tap attack.
In a previous comment for the Kyiv independent, Janine di Giovanni – a human rights journalist and investigator with more than 30 years’ experience working in warzones – called Russian double tap attacks “a part a larger strategy of punishing and controlling,” noting that Russian president Vladimir Putin “has an indiscriminate pattern of attacking civilians.”
Truth Hounds reported that the increase in Russian double-taps in 2024 may be linked to a new commander for the Russian Missile Troops and Artillery and a new director of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate within the Russian Defense Ministry. “This fact warrants a deeper investigation to uncover the underlying dependencies, including possible shifts in tactical priorities or operational strategy under their leadership.”
The report also assesses conditions under which double-tap attacks could be considered as war crimes. These attacks violate provisions of the Rome Statute which prohibits the intentional targeting of civilians and violates the article protecting medical personnel and humanitarians from attacks.
“Our research has shown that even if a first strike targets a legitimate target, a second strike — usually delayed and aimed towards rescuers and injured personnel — crosses the legality line, transforming these acts into war crimes,” Yuriy Uhryn said, a lawyer with Truth Hounds in a release of a press released shared by the organization.
Truth Hounds, based on the report, made a series of recommendations to the Ukrainian and other governments, international organisations, and the International Criminal Court. These include investigating Russian double tap strikes in both Ukraine, and Syria. They also include increasing support for Ukrainian, and Syrian first responders.
Truth Hounds released a statement that said: “The current situation highlights an important pattern: impunity tends to facilitate the recurrence of international crimes, placing civilians into increasingly precarious situations.” “The absence effective measures to address these violations undermines international standards and emboldens the perpetrators.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, said that the Ukrainian authorities had recorded almost 140.000 war crimes committed in the country by Russian troops. He made this statement at the United for Justice Conference in Kyiv held on September 11. According to Zmina a Ukrainian human right organization, over 100 people have been found guilty of war crime as of late March. Most of them were in absentia.
Truth Hounds believes that it is important to continue investigating Russian double tap attacks and prosecuting their perpetrators.
“People who have lost loved ones or been directly affected by such attacks demand justice. Even if this can only be partially satisfied through sentences in absentia it is still worthwhile,” said Koval.
“Russian suspects of war crimes still travel overseas, and such cases do not occur in isolation.” War crimes do not have an expiration date, so this increases their chances of being arrested when they leave Russia.
Dinara Khalilova, a former news editor at the Kyiv Independent newspaper, is now a reporter. She worked as a local producer and fixer for Sky News in Ukraine during the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Dinara has a BA in Journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev and a MA in Media and Communication from Bournemouth University in the U.K.
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