Double Tap, Triple Tap. The Parallel of Strikes Against First Responders by Russia and Israel.

Dnipro, Ukraine, Sep 2025

I wake up to the house shaking, with only a couple of hours sleep due to an extensive air raid last night I should be feeling wrecked but waking up to the sound of a missile strike will get that adrenaline going. The other guys are already getting their gear on when the sound of several consecutive jets fly over us, followed by several house rattling explosions, they’re certainly striking close enough to where we live. The strength of the explosions mean these definitely aren’t the Iranian shahed or russian geran drones that were hitting Dnipro over last night, you wouldn’t hear an incoming ballistic missiles before they hit. This is my first time experiencing the kalibr, a cruise missile in russia’s arsenal.

Video of the cruise missile strike in Dnipro by a local.

We arrive at the scene of the main strike, an apartment building, debris all over the surrounding area alongside the very real possibility that cluster munitions may have been dropped as well. Ukrainian first responders are already on scene, police coordinating a cordon and managing traffic, an estimated 14 ambulances from the local service from what I could see and several fire trucks. We coordinate with local ambos and get a couple of patients, assess them and do some preliminary treatment before transporting to the hospital we were advised to go to. During this time, we were under no illusion that russia could strike the area again in what is known as a “double tap”. The situation certainly presented a target for the russians but we were fortunate it wasn’t the case that day and the first responders who arrived to assist would be able to go home safely.

What is a Double Tap?

A double tap strike, normally in the context of a strike against civilians or civilian infrastructure is an initial strike followed by a secondary, with a deliberate delay to also attack responding emergency services or others who have arrived to help the initial casualties, normally other civilians nearby. These strikes can be accomplished with missiles, drones, artillery or any kind of long-range weapon. In almost every case, these kinds of strikes are war crimes, the deliberate targeting of civilians and most egregiously medical personnel. In a wider conflict they do also facilitate impacting the morale of the people targeted, acting as a weapon of terror.

Double tap strikes are not limited to any rules or laws, there isn’t a specific timeframe for two consecutive strikes to be considered a double tap and it isn’t necessarily limited to two. Ukrainian emergency services would become wary of the risk of a double tap, so once a double tap had occurred the expectation for responders would be that they were clear of danger to respond. (for the purposes of this blog I have tried to find the specific information on this strike but with the number of articles and posts about russian strikes and double taps there is a lot of information to sift through to find it so there isn’t a specific source for my post, hopefully can update it in future) In one incident, Ukrainian first responders began to enter the scene after the double tap (second strike), in this instance russian forces would fire a third strike at the scene, causing a third set of casualties in a particularly sinister attack.

Double Tap Strikes, from Russia to Israel

Although russian strikes against civilian targets and the ensuing double taps received global media attention, this coverage has dropped off over the years since the initial full-scale invasion in 2022. In an ideal world these attacks would still get extensive coverage, but a combination of fatigue in the media and an acclimatising audience to stories that were initially horrifying but became the new normal or expectation, reduces attention and shock value. The 24 hour news cycle and the graphic content that is available on social media from war zones also have their part to play but that is a topic for another time.

Ukrainian police and emergency services evacuating a victim of a missile strike in Dnipro. This image demonstrates the resources necessary for one person, imagine this but with 10, 20 or 30 victims in a single strike.

These articles below document the history of some of these strikes with PBS describing a double tap in Pokrovsk 2023, BBC covering strikes in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia 2024, the Kyiv Post outlining a devastating double tap in Odessa from 2024 and Kyiv Independent reporting on a double tap in Nikopol in 2025. These strikes have been a consistent tactic and weapon of terrorism used by russia throughout the full-scale invasion.

• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russia-accused-of-targeting-rescue-workers-with-double-tap-missile-strike

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68761490

• https://www.kyivpost.com/post/29565

• https://kyivindependent.com/russian-double-tap-attack-injures-5-including-emergency-workers-in-nikopol/

A comprehensive resource on russian strikes on civilians and double taps in Ukraine is the organisation ‘Truth Hounds’ who have been operating since 2014, working to uncover international crimes and human rights violations, primarily in Ukraine. Double tap strikes by Russia are comprehensively covered in their study ‘Cruelty Cascade: Examining the Pattern of Russian Double-Tap Strikes in Ukraine’, providing evidence of the deliberate nature of these strikes against emergency personnel and civilians. In relation to a strike in Kharkiv, Truth Hounds highlights comments from a russian Telegram channel…

“In their commentary on the deaths of the head of the Kharkiv District Department of the SES in Kharkiv Oblast and the police officers, the channel’s authors asserted that this incident is ‘not the first instance demonstrating the effectiveness of double-tap strikes on locations engaged in managing the consequences of initial attacks’.”

• https://truth-hounds.org/en/cases/cruelty-cascade/#

Mayfadoun, Lebanon, April 2026

An Israeli air strike has caused some casualties after hitting a building in southern Lebanon and the call goes out for assistance. Ambulance services in the area aren’t covered by a single state service but a number of separate volunteer organisations. Israel has already attacked paramedics and ambulances under the justification that they aren’t civilian or medical vehicles and are transporting weapons and ammunition for Hezbollah. This happens to be the same justification that pro-russian accounts on social media have disseminated for striking ambulances in Ukraine. Double tap strikes have been a common occurrence since Israel launched an offensive into Southern Lebanon and Gaza although it doesn’t attract the same attention as russian strikes in Ukraine until this day in April.

Although paramedics are wary of the risk of double taps, an ambulance from the Islamic Health Association (IHA) heads out to respond to the strike, shortly after, the double tap hits. A second ambulance from the IHA heads to the location in Mayfadoun to assist with the wounded and are hit by a third strike. At this stage in the count, it matches the number of strikes for a triple tap that russia also accomplished in Ukraine. With a second crew of paramedics injured, two ambulances from the Risala Scout Association and Nabatieh Ambulance Service attend the scene. It is at this point that the gopro worn by paramedic Fadel Hamadi captured the footage that spread around the globe across traditional and social media. Two destroyed ambulances from the previous crews on scene, Hamadi and his colleagues load the casualties into their own ambulances. Mahdi Abu Zaid, loads a 2nd casualty into the ambulance, Hamadi is holding an oxygen mask over a patient’s face, the rear door is slammed shut. A few seconds later another explosion outside the ambulance, shrapnel enters the rear of the vehicle and the windows are blown in.

The Fourth and final strike, Abu Zaid is seen screaming in the footage, shrapnel penetrating his abdomen, he will succumb to his injuries. Three other paramedics were killed and 6 wounded in the attack which may also hold the unofficial record of the first quadruple tap. In the same cynical way that russia has openly attacked civilians and first responders in Ukraine, Israel’s quadruple tap is an appalling example of the impunity that the state has to strike civilians and medical staff. As of the 17th of April, 91 healthcare workers have been killed and 214 wounded since March 2nd according to the Guardian, in relation to the documented double taps, strikes on hospitals and the quadruple tap, it’s a campaign of terror and dismantling of the health system.

In some media about the attack it has been described as a triple tap, it is in fact a quadruple tap as it counts the initial strike.

Sydney, Australia April 2026

With the experience I had in Ukraine and working back in Australia as a paramedic, it was one thing to see footage coming out of Gaza and Lebanon of medical workers being killed. I’d certainly been desensitised to the news of people being killed after working in Ukraine but the brazen nature of a quadruple tap just got to me. A state can always find a reason to justify it and there will be plenty of people who will blindly accept it. Russia and Israel are both particularly good at utilising their media and propagating a message over social media to justify their actions. With so much bullshit on all sides in conflict immoral actions still exist and it’s important to highlight them and when multiple nations use the same tactics and justification for those tactics, speaking about it can only help to shine a light on it.

Below are articles about the quadruple tap that I used for this post

• https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/4/16/israels-military-kills-four-lebanese-paramedics-in-consecutive-strikes

• https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/lebanon-paramedics-strike-9.7173448

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/16/israel-escalates-attacks-on-medics-in-lebanon-with-deadly-quadruple-tap

• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgqkkxd09e2o

First blog, what's been happening, what's going on? From studying at an abandoned mental institute to medevacs in Eastern Ukraine.

So, my first blog post for my art website, this will be a bit of an introduction to my art career and what I have been doing the last couple of years. It has certainly been a journey, from studying in the haunted, sandstone structures of Callan Park at Sydney College of the Arts. Then several years later, coming back to Callan Park and finishing a Bachelor of Paramedicine at the University of Tasmania in Rozelle.

In 2014 I began a Bachelor of Visual Arts at SCA, I ended up majoring in printmaking and under the excellent guidance and support from the lecturers and educators I finished in 2017 with first class honours, also winning the 2017 Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, the largest print prize in the country. My practice was driven by my passion for football and the organised supporters that occurs across the globe, as well as political street protest or activism and the ever present cross-over of sport and politics. The prize money allowed me to invest in my own screenprinting equipment that I still utilise to this day and give me the confidence to continue my art practice and continue with the subject matter that motivated my work.

Standing in front of the winning artwork for the 2017 FAC Print Award ‘Keeping the Bastards Honest’

Photo by Jessica Wyld

In 2018 I undertook a mentorship with Artereal Gallery who I can not thank enough for the opportunity to help educate me and support my practice, giving me the opportunity for my first solo exhibition at a commercial gallery. I also undertook my first official artist residency at Megalo Print Studio in Canberra, getting back into more traditional printmaking practices. The following years I became a member of Sydney Printmakers, exhibited in further group exhibitions and art fairs, did some casual work as a print studio tech at SCA and COFA, won the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award and did probably the best art fair ever, ‘Can’t Do Tomorrow’ that ran for two weeks in Melbourne in early 2020… then covid.

A small section of the ‘Can’t Do Tomorrow’ exhibition space, with some of my work and the work of Cold Ghost next to me.

This is where things get a bit funny with my art making and life. Covid was an unusual time for all of us that brought different changes into each others lives, some for the better, some for the worse and some just, different. The same year we were introduced to covid, I also went back to my second home of Estonia to do 8 months of national service that would also encompass the Estonian winter. I ended up in the Air Defence Battalion and specialised as a paramedic, this is where there’s a bit of a pivot in my story. Part of our training was to spend some placement hours with the ambulance service in Tallinn and one shift in Tartu. On a cold winter’s morning, the streets covered in fresh, white snow, we were dispatched to a job just after the sun had come up, or as much as it can on an overcast day. The ambulance set off, snow kicked up from the tires and the moment the lights came on and the siren kicked in I knew this was something I wanted to pursue.

On shift with Tallinna Kiirabi, Tallinn, Estonia

After my period of service concluded, I was stuck in Estonia due to the strict incoming traveller numbers the Australian government had introduced, even if you were a citizen. A bit of a set back but it gave me the opportunity to explore Estonia and Europe a bit more as well as having the fortunate timing to undertake a residency at TYPA Print and Paper Museum in Tartu, Estonia over 5 month. This also presented a challenge to produce large-scale work that I could send back to exhibit for a solo exhibition at Gallery Lane Cove, fortunately, where there is a will there is a way and half way across the globe I made a body of work that was successfully installed and exhibited in my absence.

Arriving back home to the Australian heat, coming into 2022, I got back into work and my art, plenty of inspiration to work with and there was always something politically occurring across the globe. A new studio space meant I now had the room to make large-scale work more comfortably and create work at the scale I want to, however time was always an issue, not only for producing new work but maintaining the admin, social media and website side of things. With my experience in the Estonian Defence Forces still fresh in my mind, I would only compound this by starting a new degree, a Bachelor of Paramedicine in 2023.

‘Eight Forgotten Months’ installed at Gallery Lane Cove, 2021

I guess this was the solidifying of a path that began in 2020, to become a paramedic. It was a fast-track degree, 3 years of study, crammed into 2 with minimal holidays. Ideal to get the degree done in a short amount of time but incredibly tiring. While I was still making new art and coming up with new ideas, my ability to complete new work was definitely hindered in this time. Although I had developed some knowledge and skills in Estonia, this was certainly another beast but after 2 years, placement in Port Macquarie, London and Sydney I had made it through the other side and formally graduated in May 2025.

Only two weeks later I was off on a flight to Europe, a week to unwind and then was on a train crossing the Polish/Ukrainian border, 20 hours to the city of Dnipro to work with Prevail Together, an NGO that was conducting medevacs of wounded soldiers to the major hospitals in the city. I won’t get into detail about my time in Ukraine, there would be too much to cover for this initial blog post and it will eventually have it’s own or two. As will many other things that I have mentioned here, be covered at a later date in better detail. Suffice to say, it was an experience that I hold dear, the opportunity to make a tangible impact in Ukraine, see and experiencing things that fortunately many in other countries will never have to and working with some amazing people and making new friends. It was a bit of a trial by fire for a newly registered paramedic, the experience providing me some incredible insight and perspective in my life and plenty of motivation for new art.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, transporting a patient to Dnipro for comprehensive care.

After almost 6 months in Europe, 5 months in Ukraine, I came back home to Australia to begin full-time work as a paramedic. So what does this actually mean for the future? I’m currently working in a field that I am very passionate about and is incredibly rewarding. This is also a great balance to my art practice, not only providing potential inspiration for new work but also contributes to a grounding for myself in the world. I have a long list of artworks that are half-finished, just started or still just a concept that I am looking forward to work through too. Fortunately my new work schedule affords me some significant time to finally knock out these artworks that have sat in limbo for years. I have time locked in to get some regular days in the studio, creating new screenprints in Photoshop and of course, doing the all important admin and social media tasks as demonstrated by this first blog post. The website will be further updated over the coming days. I’m looking forward to a big 2026 ahead for the art practice.

I want to thank those of you who took the time to read this, I’m aiming to make this a twice a month update, one post will cover my art (an artwork or exhibition more specifically) and the other will look at some politics that is occurring either in Australia or abroad that relates to my practice. If you do have any feedback about the blog or are particularly interested for me to delve deeper into something related to my art or politics please let me know and I can see what I can do for the next one!

Keeping my fingers crossed for a productive 2026 pending a certain president kicking off WW3.