Calculated Harm: Attacks on Emergency Responders in Ukraine
The data [in the report by the Truth Hounds] clearly shows that Russian attacks on emergency responders in Ukraine have formed a sustained pattern that harms those who carry out civil defense, disrupts rescue operations, and weakens civilian protection.
The report shows that attacks on emergency responders increased over time and reached their highest recorded number in 2025. Most incidents occurred in frontline areas. The attacks did not remain confined to those areas. They also reached cities farther from the front, showing that this pattern has a broad geographical reach.
Drones became the dominant weapon in incidents affecting emergency responders, and their use rose sharply in 2024 and 2025. That shift matters because many drones allow operators to observe an attack site in real time. Emergency responders wear distinctive uniforms and operate clearly marked vehicles that visibly identify them as emergency services personnel. Therefore, attackers’ use of drones with real time video feeds strengthens the inference that emergency responders, at least in some cases, came under intentional attack.
The report identifies recurring types of attacks, primarily double-tap strikes and attacks on fire stations, but also drone “hunting” of emergency operations vehicles, attacks on evacuation and pyrotechnic teams, and attacks during large-scale environmental shocks.
Double-tap strikes are a military tactic where the first strike hits a particular target and subsequent ones are directed at emergency responders arriving at the scene. Truth Hounds identified 200 incidents that bore the hallmarks of double-tap strikes and verified 92, mainly through open-source analysis.
Those verified cases caused at least 20 deaths and 108 injuries among emergency responders and damaged or destroyed at least 76 emergency vehicles and 3 civil defense buildings. In more than half of those verified cases, drones carried out the second strike. In most cases, an initial strike hit or landed near a civilian object, and responders who arrived to help then faced the follow-up strike. These attacks do more than kill and injure. They interrupt rescue work, delay debris removal, deepen fear among civilians, and force responders to work under the constant threat of another hit. In such cases, these types of attacks function as a tool of terror, prompting fear and hopelessness.
The number of verified double-tap strikes.
Attacks on fire stations is a second major pattern. Fire stations are critical operational hubs and vital spaces for civilian life in conflict. Truth Hounds documented 138 incidents that damaged or destroyed fire stations, while SES data indicate a much larger overall toll. Most of these attacks occurred close to the frontline, and some stations were hit repeatedly. In Nikopol alone, we recorded more than ten such incidents. In most analyzed cases, researchers did not identify a stationary military facility within 300 meters of the station, which supports an inference that the stations themselves may have been the intended targets. These attacks matter because when strikes damage or destroy fire stations, they degrade emergency capacity over time, weaken local resilience, and leave civilian communities more vulnerable to both wartime and ordinary emergencies. Such attacks may also exacerbate forced displacement, and, in combination with other measures, may be used to pressure leadership into making political or military concessions.
Distribution of incidents resulting in the damage or destruction of fire stations by year.
The report examines how Russian and pro-Russian sources disparage and vilify Ukrainian emergency responders. Truth Hounds identified 169 posts on 26 pro-Russian Telegram channels that commented on Ukrainian emergency responders. Many posts threatened responders directly. Others portrayed the SES and its infrastructure as military targets, accused responders of working with foreign fighters or NATO, or used dehumanizing language and calls for violence. Official Russian sources largely stayed silent about attacks on emergency responders and their losses. In that context, these Telegram channels offer important insight into a discourse that may help explain or reinforce the targeting pattern documented elsewhere in the report.
The report also shows how these attacks have reshaped emergency work in Ukraine. In some frontline communities, war-related calls now dominate daily operations. Emergency responders must change routes, suspend work, shelter during operations, and rely more heavily on jamming systems, drone detectors, armored vehicles, and robotic tools. These burdens can delay rescue, prolong fires, and leave civilians trapped for longer durations. The attacks also impose serious physical and psychological costs. Some responders have suffered permanent injuries or lost the ability to continue working. Many others live with sustained stress, anxiety, and fear linked to war itself and to the risk of being killed while trying to save others.
The report finds that attacks on emergency responders in Ukraine may amount to war crimes, including attacks on civilians and, in certain circumstances, attacks on civilian objects under the Rome Statute. It also argues that some attacks may violate the prohibition on acts or threats of violence whose primary purpose is to spread terror among the civilian population under Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I. We recognize that any final criminal qualification depends on the facts and evidence in each case.
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