A United Nations human rights commission Monday called Russian drone strikes in Ukraine war crimes.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine report alleges that drone strikes in an area spanning nearly 200 miles along the Dnieper River, which bisects Ukraine, have targeted Ukrainian civilians.
“The Russian armed forces have carried out attacks with short-range drones on the right bank of the river, which is under Ukrainian Government control, with full disregard for the civilian population, killing and injuring civilians and causing damage and destruction,” the report says.
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, the investigators say Russia’s drone attacks in the nearly four-year conflict have been deliberately coordinated to spread terror.
The report also alleges Ukrainian civilians are being forcibly deported from their residences. The report does not attribute blame to any specific perpetrators, stating only that “Russian armed forces” or “Russian authorities” have been responsible.
“In addition to attacking persons, Russian armed forces have relentlessly struck a wide array of civilian objects with drones, including civilian houses, buildings, gathering points, humanitarian distribution points, and objects of critical infrastructure that service civilians,” the report states.
Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians. The U.N. commission stated it was unable to investigate Russian claims about Ukrainian drone strikes against civilians.
“The Commission also examined Russian allegations of drone attacks by Ukrainian armed forces against civilian targets in Russian occupied areas,” the U.N. stated in a release.
“It was unable to draw any conclusions due to lack of access to the territory, concerns relating to the safety of witnesses, and the lack of responses from Russian authorities,” the U.N. said.
The report describes a variety of short-range and low-cost drones as being used, including the Russian-manufactured VT-40 quadcopter drone and Chinese-manufactured quadcopter drones.
“Various types of explosives are usually attached to drones, including grenades, mortar rounds, RPG-7 cartridges, butterfly mines, repurposed anti-tank mines, as well as improvised flammable or explosive substances,” the report states.
Zita Ballinger Fletcher previously served as editor of Military History Quarterly and Vietnam magazines and as the historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds an M.A. with distinction in military history.
