Russia kills four firefighters in Kharkiv hitting the same spot twice in one night
Russia struck the same spot in Kharkiv twice overnight on 15 June 2026, returning to a burning site to hit the emergency crews who had rushed in to fight the flames, Suspilne reported. The follow-up strike killed members of a city fire and rescue unit and wounded others, in a tactic Ukrainian rescuers have lived with for years. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and the State Emergency Service, known in Ukraine as DSNS, confirmed the losses. The strikes were part of a massive missile and drone attack, targeting Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and other cities across Ukraine.
A second strike timed for the rescuers
Explosions rang out across Kharkiv from 1:24 a.m. The opening missile strikes hit the Kholodnohirskyi district, and at 1:36 a.m., an Iranian-designed Shahed attack drone struck the Shevchenkivskyi district. As DSNS crews worked to put out the fire, Russia hit the same place again.
Klymenko first wrote that the repeat strike had killed five State Emergency Service rescuers and wounded at least five more.
"In Kharkiv, during firefighting, a repeat Russian strike killed five DSNS rescuers. At least five more were wounded," he said. He added a line that lingered through the morning: "My condolences to the families of the fallen heroes without weapons. Unfortunately, we keep losing those who save lives."
By 8:36 a.m., the State Emergency Service of Kharkiv Oblast clarified the toll. Five people had died in the night, four of them rescuers. Six more rescuers were wounded, and nine people were injured in the Kholodnohirskyi district in all. Among the earlier reported casualties were three men aged 30, 36 and 40.
The four men of Kharkiv's 6th unit
DSNS head Andrii Danyk named the dead.
"Another tragic night for Ukraine and our Service in particular: overnight, a repeat Russian strike on a civilian enterprise in Kharkiv killed four rescuers and wounded nine more," he said.
The four came from Kharkiv's 6th State Fire and Rescue Unit: squad commander and chief master sergeant Dmytrii Boiko, firefighter-rescuer and sergeant Danylo Tishchenko, firefighter-rescuer and sergeant Serhii Makovetskyi, and driver and master sergeant Vadym Zinchenko.
They stayed at their posts to the end, doing the work they had sworn to do. The service said they would remain in the memory of their comrades, families, and all Ukrainians.
Since 2022, Russia has used the double-tap tactic against first responders across Ukraine, returning to a site minutes after the first hit, when medics, police, and firefighters are most likely to be there.
In March, a Russian drone destroyed a fire truck in Kharkiv Oblast after crews arrived to fight a blaze, though those rescuers reached shelter in time.
Read also
-
Macron wants Washington to tell Ukraine “we are with you” as the G7 summit in Évian
-
Kallas calls the Lavra attack a war crime and announces new EU sanctions
-
Russia hit Kyiv’s 1,000-year-old monastery, then launched disinformation campaign with five different scenarios. Ukraine has seen this playbook in Mariupol
