'Double tap' Russian strike on houses in southern Ukraine kills 16, injures dozens

A Russian missile attack blasted homes in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Friday, followed by a second missile that targeted first responders who arrived at the scene, officials said. At least 16 people were killed.

The attack occurred as Russians votein a presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin's rule by another six years after he crushed dissent and as the war in Ukraine stretches into its third year.

At least 10 houses in Odesa and some emergency service equipment were damaged in the attack, which started a blaze, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service and regional Gov. Oleh Kiper.

The dead included a paramedic and an emergency service worker. At least 53 other people were wounded, officials said.

2nd day of mourning in less than 2 weeks

The tactic of firing a second missile at the same location, aiming to hit rescuers, is known in military terms as a "double tap." Such strikes often hit civilians.

Kiper announced that a day of mourning in Odesa will be held on Saturday the second such observance in less than two weeks.

On March 2, a Russian drone struck a multi-storey building, killing 12 people, including five children.

Since last summer, Russia has intensified its attacks on Odesa, a southern port city with a population of around amillion residents.

The attacks have primarily targeted port infrastructure, aiming to disrupt the export of goods after Ukraine managed to restore maritime navigation with a series of successful operations in the Black Sea.

Moscow officials have also claimed they are aiming at facilities where Ukrainian sea drones are stored for attacks on Russia's Black Sea fleet.

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Odesa residents largely speak Russian, and the city's past is intertwined with some of Russia's most revered figures, including Catherine the Great, author Leo Tolstoy and poet Anna Akhmatova.

Its Orthodox cathedral belongs to Moscow's patriarchate andOdesa's beaches were beloved by Russian tourists at least until the Kremlin illegally annexed the nearby Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Meanwhile, in the Russian border region of Belgorod, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said a member of the regional territorial defense forces was killed and two people were injured in Ukrainian shelling Friday.

Overnight in Ukraine, two people were also killed and three wounded in the central Vinnytsia region, after Russia struck a building with a drone, according to regional Gov. Serhii Borzov.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down all 27 Shahed drones that Russia launched over Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv regions.

Putin says Ukraine will be punished for disrupting election

Meanwhile, Putinsaid on Friday that Ukraine would be punished for trying todisrupt the Russian presidential election.

Putin said there had been four attacks on the Belgorodregion and one attack on the Kursk region by armed Ukrainian proxies numbering about 2,500. He said they had 35 tanks and 40armoured vehicles.

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"In order to disrupt the voting process and intimidatepeople, at least in the border areas, the Kyiv regime ... istrying to carry out a number of criminal actions striking atcivilian settlements in Russia," Putin told Russia's security council.

"These enemy strikes shall not remain unpunished," avisibly angry Putin said.

He said 95 per centof the shells and missiles were shot downby Russian air defences, but said some got through and that therewere casualties among Russian civilians.