Two firefighters killed in Russian double-tap strikes in Yahotyn, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine's emergency service says
Two Ukrainian firefighters were killed and two fellow rescuers injured when Russian forces struck a second time as crews tackled a fire in Yahotyn, Kyiv Oblast, during a day of Russian attacks across the region on 11 November, Ukraine's State Emergency Service and the Kyiv Oblast Police said. The dead were named as Oleksandr Bondarenko, a major who headed the 24th State Fire and Rescue Unit, and Yurii Lytovchenko, a chief master sergeant and driver with the 28th unit. Police said 52 homes were among the buildings damaged across the oblast.
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Key points
- Two SES firefighters were killed in Yahotyn by a further strike as they fought a fire, the emergency service and police say.
- The dead are named as unit head Oleksandr Bondarenko and driver Yurii Lytovchenko; two injured rescuers are in hospital.
- Police put the day's damage across Kyiv Oblast at 52 homes, 12 vehicles, and warehouses and industrial premises.
What happened
The Yahotyn killings came during a day of Russian attacks across Kyiv Oblast on 11 November, which continued into the night with a combined missile and drone attack on the capital itself. Strikes that hit a second time while rescuers work at a site — 'double-tap' strikes — have been documented throughout the war, and Ukraine's investigators treat them under the war-crimes article of the criminal code.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That two named firefighters were killed in Yahotyn and two named rescuers injured, on the emergency service's and police's accounts.
- That police put the oblast's damage for the day at 52 homes and 12 vehicles, among other buildings.
What we don't know yet
- Whether anyone else was injured at Yahotyn — the report's opening line speaks of three other people injured in total, but only the two rescuers are named.
- Any Russian response to the reports of the Yahotyn strike.
- The condition of the two injured rescuers beyond the service's statement that they remain in hospital.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (4)
Why this label: The deaths are the account of the State Emergency Service and the Kyiv Oblast Police, reported by Ukrainska Pravda; Hromadske's account of the day's attacks also records emergency responders killed while extinguishing fires. No Russian comment on the Yahotyn strike appears in the reporting read.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The names, ranks and units are the emergency service's own, reported by Ukrainska Pravda.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The damage count and the proceedings are the Kyiv Oblast Police's account, reported by Ukrainska Pravda.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Truth Hounds' count is from its open-source monitoring of the emergency service's records; the service's own totals for the whole war are higher.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Firefighters are the people who run towards a strike site. When a second strike kills them at work, every later crew must weigh waiting against rescuing — and people trapped under rubble wait longer.
Update history
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Published in Checking state — the deaths are the emergency service's and police's account, and no Russian response has been reported.