Russian armed forces have committed crimes against humanity by deliberately targeting civilians with drones in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, according to a new report by the United Nation's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
The commission concluded that the drone attacks, which began in July 2024, were widespread, systematic, and part of a coordinated state policy to terrorize the population and forcibly depopulate the area. The findings were based on more than 300 videos, over 600 Telegram posts, and 91 interviews with victims, witnesses, and local officials.
"From July 2024, Russian forces have recurrently killed and injured civilians in an area stretching over more than 100 kilometres along the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson (Oblast)," the commission said in the report published on May 28.
Nearly 150 civilians have been killed and hundreds more wounded in drone strikes on Kherson city and 16 surrounding localities. Victims include men, women, and children, with many struck while going about their daily routines. Ambulances, which are protected under international law, have also been targeted, resulting in additional casualties.
Drone operators used real-time video feeds to track and strike civilians and civilian vehicles. "They are simply chasing and hunting civilians who are on their way to work or walking their dogs. They drop explosives from drones like it is a video game," a senior Kherson hospital official said. The attacks were often followed by Telegram posts showing the killings and threatening further violence. One message warned, "Get out of the city before the leaves fall, you who are destined to die."
The report notes that these attacks violate the core principles of international humanitarian law, which prohibit targeting civilians. The commission concluded that Russian forces committed the war crime of intentionally attacking civilians and the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity by sharing videos of the assaults online. The constant threat has left residents living in fear, often venturing outside only under cloud cover or near trees for safety.
"The recurrent drone attacks, the widely disseminated videos showing them, and numerous posts explicitly exhorting the population to leave suggest a coordinated state policy, on the part of the Russian authorities, to force the population of Kherson Province to leave the area," the report said.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
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