by Miceál O’Hurley
THE HAGUE — Russia’s increased employment of the ‘double tap‘ attack — selecting civilian-rich targets such as housing, schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure for missile attacks then tactically awaiting for the arrival of first-responders before hitting the same target with yet another strike has led to increased calls for Moscow to be held responsible at The Hague for these type of attacks. These ‘double tap’ attacks, pioneered to an almost artform by Russian forces in the brutal warfare it has waged in Syria since 2011 have been employed to assist the regime of Basheer al Assad. Not only do ‘double tap’ attacks unlawfully target the killing of civilians but they are designed to deplete the paramedics, nurses, doctors, firefighters and other first responders along with their equipment who necessarily rush-in to save human lives.
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) strictly forbids the targeting of civilians who are not participating in hostilities and forbids attacks likely to cause harm or the loss of civilian lives barring a distinct military advantage.
Rule 6. Civilians are protected against attack, unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. Rule 14. Launching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited.
Russia’s Assaults on Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure Catastrophic and Costly
According to a November 2023 report by Human Rights Watch over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed by Russian forces. That number has grown by a reported 172 more targeted attacks on Ukrainian educational facilities in the past 5-months.
Kyiv School of Economics research published in October 2023 indicated that over 126,700 houses and 16,800 apartment buildings around the country have been destroyed or severely damaged. Ukraine’s Ministry of Health recorded in their December 2023 reports that 1,100 healthcare facilities had been damaged including the total destruction of some 144 of those facilities. Russian attacks on Ukrainian religion institutions, including historic places, has exceeded 348 distinct sites. Continued targeted attacks by Russian forces have increased these numbers available from the latest reports. In January 2024, the Kyiv School of Economics estimated the total cost of infrastructure damage in Ukraine exceeded $155 billion.
Latest Deadly ‘Double Tap’ Attacks on Kharkiv
The densely populated city of Kharkiv, situated some 30km from the Russian borde,r has become a favourite site for Russian attacks on civilian housing and critical infrastructure. On 3 April, Russia launched at-least 15 Iranian-designed and supplied Shahed drones against civilian housing areas in Kharkiv. Following the attacks on a high-density, high-rise housing centre, Russian forces waited until first-responders arrived and began their rescue operations before launching a subsequent ‘double tap’ attack. Yesterday, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov confirmed that 3-first responders were killed in the ‘double tap’ attack and 12 civilians were injured and another killed in the initial and subsequent attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a despicable and cynical attack”. Zelensky shared the following post including a video on his “X” (formerly Twitter) media account.
Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleg Synegubov said there were at least 15-drone attacks on Ukraine’s 2nd-largest city overnight. According to Synegubov, some of the Shahed drones were intercepted and “downed” by Ukrainian air defense forces. The immediate proximity of Kharkiv from the Russian border leaves almost no time for Ukrainian forces to effectively intercept the cheaply-produced and prolifically-deployed Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russian forces just over the border.
The Shahed drone, which Russia has re-branded as the Geran-2, travels at 185km per hour. Using a delta-wing design, the highly mobile Shahed measures 3.5 meters long and 2.5 meters wide and weighs approximately 200 kilograms thus requiring a mere 50-horsepower engine. The drone has a maximum effective range of some 2,500km. With Ukraine being 1,316 km measured from west to east, and 893 km from north to south, the Shahed is capable of hitting targets all across Ukraine launched from Russia, occupied Crimea and Belarus.
Launched against Kharkiv, Shahed drones can take as little as 9-minutes to reach their targets creating a minimal window between launch-detection to target-impact for effective intercepts by air defense or ground forces. Known as “kamikaze drones” due to their single-use design and construction, the Iranian designed and produced Shaheds are small, mobile, agile and have proven highly accurate.
Russian tactical deployment favours launching them in significant numbers causing Ukraine to expend disproportionate resources in attempting to intercept and down the drones. It is estimated that a Shahed can be built for as little as $37,500. While it is possible to take down a relatively slow flying Shahed with machine guns the air defense systems capable of maximum detection and deterrence can cost in the high-multiples of the cheaply made Iranian and Russian drones.
Sanction Breaches Makes Shahed Production Possible
Recovered remnants of Shaheds have included the use of proscribed components in their construction. Despite being on lists of sanctioned items for export Shahed and Geran-2 drone wreckage has rendered consistent proof of the use of SIMs and 4G modems of the type commonly used in mobile phones to drive their guidance systems. Components such as the Texas Instruments TMS320 processor, a fuel pump made in Poland on behalf of UK-based company TI Fluid Systems, a voltage converter from China and even a carburetor stamped “Made in Ireland” produced by Tillotson, which operates a factory in County Kerry, indicates Iran and Russia’s reliance of proscribed or dual-use parts to build these drones that have proven so deadly to civilians remains.
NAKO, an independent civil society organization whose function is to reduce the level of corruption and advance good governance in the areas critical for Ukraine’s national security published a 2023 report, Globalization, Weaponized: Foreign Components in Weapons and Equipment Used by the Russian Army. The report details how research reveals ho Western technology is increasingly used in Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, despite sanctions.
Russian Tactic Relies on Economy of Arms in Creating Civilian Deaths
On 1 April, Russia launched yet another in what has been an enduring campaign of attacks on cities across Ukraine. Kyiv has been a nightly priority for Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s major population centres.
According to the city’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, successive waves of kamikaze drone attacks were comprised of no less than 28 drones. The launch of so many drone aerial attack vehicles, often interspersed with sea-based, hypersonic Zirkon missiles and or traditional missile systems like Kh-101 Air Launched Cruise Missiles, is a tactic meant to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defense systems. The ability to defend against waves of aerial attack vehicles launched against civilian targets in several cities, from multiple directions, including myriad vehicle platforms, not only depletes Ukraine’s already strained air defense systems but necessitates the prioritisation of in-flight attack vehicles. Consequently, Ukraine is forced in each attack to choose between protecting civilian housing, critical infrastructure like schools, hospitals, power generation facilities or other critical resources, or defend military resources. Russia’s aerial swarm tactic, in which the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure is an essential element, is cost-effective, requires a reduced number of skilled technicians and Moscow hopes the devastation caused will not only deplete Ukraine’s air defense capabilities but destroy civilian moral and undermine the Kyiv Government.
Energy Generation and Transmission Russian Target Priorities
On 22 March, Russia began attacking Ukraine with fusillades that included more than 60-drones and 90-missiles per target-package hitting targets across Ukraine. The latest sustained aerial attack campaign which began that night targeted critical civilian infrastructure, specifically Ukraine’s power grid. It represents the largest attacks of its type since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The scale and accuracy of the attacks that night not only reflected advances in Russia’s aerial warfare capabilities but betrayed a significant improvement in Russia’s intelligence capabilities. Ukraine is racing to maintain equivalent or superior intelligence and technology momentum while it awaits the critical munitions and weapons packages promised by Europe, the United States and Britain for more than 1-year.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power generation business, lost 80% of its power generation capacity in the latest Russian attacks. The attacks of 22 March left an estimated 1.9 million civilians without power. On Thursday, Russian drones struck the Zmiivska power plant in the Kharkiv Region leaving at least 350,000 more people without electricity.
Previous attempts by Russia to obliterate Ukraine’s power grid in 2022 and 2023 were countered relatively quickly by the ability of Ukraine to effectuate repairs. Each strike has stressed Ukraine’s ability to restore power to the breaking point. The most recent strikes that devastated DTEK’s power generation capacity will take significant time to repair. Energy purchases from neighbouring European states has gown in the meanwhile. If there is any upside for the attacks on the energy grid at this time is that the harsh, energy-demanding winter months are now over.
Confronting Russia’s Targeting of Civilians Requires World’s Resolve
Russia’s goal of destroying critical civilian infrastructure to the point of returning Ukraine to the 18th century technological state violates IHL and constitutes a war crime. Moscow’s goal is to undermine Ukraine’s ability to sustain its economy while simultaneously eroding public support for the Government in Kyiv. This represents only the latest trend in Russia’s gambit to achieve victory against Ukraine by the use of terror where it has otherwise failed to achieve a decisive military victory.
The human dimension of the attacks is disturbing. The inclusion of ‘double tap’ attacks on first responders is beginning to take its toll on Ukraine in the same way it did against civilians in Syria whom Russia subjected to the same tactics. Coupled with the overall illegal targeting of civilians and non-military critical infrastructure Russia’s illegality and brutality present the latest challenge for Europe to address in ensuring Ukraine can survive and repel the Russian onslaught that continues to turn uglier and more deadly as the war continues.
With the world’s eyes fixed on the ongoing horrors inflicted by Israeli forces against civilians in Gaza it remains to be seen if the West can focus on a multi-front assault on human rights and the wholesale breach of humanitarian law in the many areas where conflict is reducing civilian life to abject misery, most notably in Ukraine.
