By Olha Chepil | 2025-06-12

KYIV -- They arrive to save lives. Instead, they are being hunted.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 100 Ukrainian rescue workers have been killed -- not in crossfire but in cold calculation. At least 91 died in so-called "double tap" strikes -- attacks timed to hit first responders as they rush to the scene of an earlier explosion.

The State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine reported the grim tally in April 2024. Since then, the death toll has only climbed. What was once a humanitarian mission is now a deadly gamble.

Working on the brink

Ukrainian rescuers risk their lives each time they climb a burning roof or dig through rubble.

On June 6, Russia launched another massive assault on Kyiv; first with missiles, then a wave of drones. As emergency crews began battling the resulting fires, additional strikes hit the same location.

Three firefighters -- Pavlo Yezhor, Danylo Skadin and Andriy Remennyi -- were inside nearby buildings checking for survivors. All three were killed.

"This is such heartbreak!" Petro Voloshin, chief of the Veliko Karashin Starostinsky district of the Makarovsky Village Council, told Kontur.

He described Yezhor as "a fireman from God" whom the whole village knew. "He saved people. Everyone knew him in the village. He always came to the rescue."

Yezhor, who rushed to Kyiv to help from his village, is survived by his parents, brother, wife and young daughter.

"His daughter will be five years old in December. The little girl walks around and asks, 'Where's daddy?' She doesn't understand," said Voloshin tearfully.

Besides the three dead, 16 rescue workers were injured, including members of the agency's Kyiv press team, the SES said.

Surviving firefighters needed psychological care, Svetlana Vodolaga, SES spokeswoman, said.

"They were gathered at the station. A psychologist worked with them," she told Kontur.

"Because the service is like a family. ... It's very difficult for everyone."

A tactic of double tapping

Double taps have become a hallmark of Russia's war in Ukraine, part of a broader strategy to inflict maximum harm and sow fear, according to Ukrainian officials and analysts.

From Kyiv to Odesa, Mykolaiv to Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces have repeatedly targeted rescue sites, hitting once and striking again as emergency crews arrive.

"The Russians ... cynically and deliberately launch repeat strikes," said Vodolaga.

Between May 26 and June 2 alone, SES units came under fire more than 10 times. Russian bombardments damaged fire stations and vehicles across Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy and Kharkiv provinces.

"This is targeted terror. It's a war crime," wrote Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko on Facebook June 2.

What Russia is doing in Ukraine is an intimidation tactic aimed at life-saving personnel, say rescuers.

Repeat strikes are now expected, not exceptional, said Vodolaga.

"When a missile hits, they hope that fire will destroy what the drone didn't. But we, rescue workers, quickly extinguish fires ... And that's why they hit us -- so we don't respond to emergencies," she explained.

Russia is targeting Ukraine's most skilled responders, she said. Achieving knowledge and skills takes time. The Russians are targeting experienced personnel to ensure that things will be harder for Ukraine as long as the war continues.

Ukrainian emergency teams have adapted anyway, said Vodolaga.

"During the war, we have learned to handle ordinary emergencies so quickly that it puts the enemy at a disadvantage," she said.

The cost of serving

The cost of serving in Ukraine's emergency personnel is no longer limited to those in uniform. Increasingly, their families pay too.

On June 5, a Russian drone strike hit the house of Oleksandr Lebid, the fire chief in Pryluky, Chernihiv province. His wife, daughter and toddler grandson were killed.

"The second [drone] hit his house directly. His wife, daughter -- she was a policewoman -- and grandson. He was one year and four months old," said Vodolaga.

Lebid was on duty that night. When he arrived at the scene, he realized the burning house was his own.

"It turned out to be his own house," said Ihor Fedorenko, chief of the 5th Fire and Rescue Squad, in an interview with Suspilne Chernihiv on June 6.

"When he saw the fire -- it was a direct hit by a Shahed [drone] on his house -- he didn't know what to do. This is a very heavy loss for him personally and for us."

Lebid's daughter, Daryna, had served with the Kyiv police since 2020. She had traveled with her son, Mykhaylo, to visit her parents. He became the 25th child killed by Russia in Chernihiv province, according to local officials.

"Oleksandr doted on this grandson," Fedorenko told Suspilne Chernihiv.

The war has turned Ukraine's unarmed rescuers into intended targets, said Voloshin, the village official grieving for the late fireman Pavlo Yezhor: targets of missiles and drones at work, while their families perish in attacks on their houses.

Russia has defined those whose job is not to fight but to help as wartime enemies, he said.

"But look, even after such brutal attacks, our rescuers put their uniforms on again, repair their vehicles and go to the rescue. They're not giving up," he said.