Russian drone strikes in Ukraine are war crimes, UN commission says

A United Nations human rights commission on Monday called Russian drone strikes in Ukraine war crimes.

The report from the Independent International Investigative Commission on Ukraine says drone strikes in an area stretching nearly 200 miles along the Dnieper River, which bisects Ukraine, targeted Ukrainian civilians.

“Russian armed forces carried out short-range drone attacks on the right bank of the river, which is under the control of the Ukrainian government, with complete disregard for the civilian population, killing and injuring civilians and causing damage and destruction,” the report said.

The investigative team that produced the report was appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council and formed in 2022. Citing 500 publicly available videos and 226 interviews with Ukrainian citizens as evidence, investigators say Russian drone attacks during the nearly four-year conflict were deliberately coordinated to sow terror.

The report also claims that Ukrainian civilians are being forcibly removed from their residences. The report does not attribute responsibility to specific perpetrators, only stating that “Russian armed forces” or “Russian authorities” are responsible.

“In addition to attacking people, Russian armed forces have relentlessly struck a wide range of civilian objects with drones, including civilian homes, buildings, assembly points, humanitarian distribution points, and critical infrastructure serving civilians,” the report said.

Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians. The U.N. commission said it was unable to investigate Russian allegations about Ukrainian drone strikes against civilians.

“The Commission also examined Russian allegations of drone attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces against civilian targets in areas occupied by Russia,” the UN said in a statement.

“It was unable to draw any conclusions due to lack of access to the territory, concerns over the safety of witnesses and the lack of response from Russian authorities,” the UN said.

The report describes a variety of short-range, low-cost drones in use, including the Russian-made VT-40 quadcopter drone and Chinese-made quadcopter drones.

“Different types of explosives are commonly attached to drones, including grenades, mortar shells, RPG-7 rounds, butterfly mines, recycled anti-tank mines, as well as improvised flammable or explosive substances,” the report said.