“They are hunting us”: UN recognizes Russian UAV safari on people of Kherson region as a war crime
29 May 13:34
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has released a report on the systematic attacks by Russian drones on civilians in the Kherson region. The Commission has classified them as crimes against humanity and war crimes, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Terror from the sky: how the system of killing civilians works
Since July 2024, Russian military drone operators have launched a large-scale campaign of brutality against civilians on the right bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast. Located on the opposite bank of the river, they systematically target civilians in their daily lives – when they are walking, using public transportation, or simply being in open space.
According to official figures, nearly 150 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured so far. The attacks cover more than 100 kilometers of coastline and 17 settlements. At the time of publication, these horrific attacks are still ongoing.
Weapons of terror: from domestic drones to instruments of death
The Commission found that the Russian military uses commercially available drones modified for military purposes. These drones are equipped with cameras that allow operators to track their victims in real time and target them. They use both strike drones that drop explosives on targets and kamikaze drones that explode on impact.
Victims are people in the most mundane situations of everyday life. Attacks on ambulances, which have a special protection status under international law, are particularly cynical. This often prevents medics from reaching the victims, resulting in additional casualties.
Digital propaganda of violence
One of the most shocking aspects of this campaign is its media support. Several Russian telegram channels with thousands of subscribers systematically publish videos of civilian killings taken from drones. The published footage clearly shows that the perpetrators of the attacks saw their victims, leaving no doubt about their intention to kill civilians.
The same telegram channels regularly post threatening texts warning of new attacks in what the Russians themselves have called the “red zone.”
“They want to give the city a nightmare,”
– a resident of the Kherson region who has witnessed eight drone attacks told the Commission. The online publication of videos of civilians being killed and injured is a war crime in the form of an outrage on human dignity.
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Legal qualification: crimes of the highest level
The UN Commission has reached uncompromising conclusions about the legal nature of these actions. The individual drone attacks constitute war crimes in the form of intentionally targeting civilians. Their large-scale and systematic nature over a period of 10 months over a large area indicates that they were planned and indicates that the Russian armed forces carried out the killings as part of an organizational policy, which constitutes a crime against humanity.
The Commission also found that the Russian armed forces committed acts of violence with the primary purpose of spreading terror among the civilian population, in violation of international humanitarian law. The nature and wide range of the attacks, their frequency, intensity and geographical coverage caused widespread fear among the population.
The expert investigation: indisputable evidence
The Commission conducted a thorough investigation, interviewing over 90 residents of the affected areas, including victims and witnesses. Experts geolocated more than 120 published videos of the attacks, collected official documents and analyzed hundreds of additional videos and text messages from open sources.
The evidence shows that the attacks are the result of a coordinated state policy of the Russian authorities aimed at forcibly displacing civilians by creating an atmosphere of terror.
Humanitarian catastrophe: when life becomes impossible
Systematic drone attacks have created a real humanitarian crisis in the region. Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes due to the constant threat to their lives, damage to housing infrastructure, and limited access to emergency services. Damage and destruction of houses, lack of or limited access to services have made the affected areas uninhabitable.
The Commission qualified the behavior of the perpetrators of the attacks as a crime against humanity in the form of forced displacement. The massive and systematic nature of the attacks and the terror of the population left many residents with no choice but to seek refuge in safer places.
The Russian position: refusal to engage in dialogue
The Russian authorities not only do not refute these facts, but also refuse to cooperate with the international investigation.
Notably, the Commission notes that it also considered Russian allegations of alleged Ukrainian drone attacks on civilian targets in the occupied Kherson region, but was unable to confirm them due to a lack of information and access as a result of the Russian authorities’ refusal to cooperate.
The findings of the UN Commission will be important for future war crimes trials and may form the basis for criminal prosecution of those responsible, international sanctions and compensation for victims.
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