The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concludes in a new report released Wednesday that Russian armed forces have committed crimes against humanity by murdering civilians with drones. The report states that the drone attacks have been widespread and systematic, and have been conducted as part of a coordinated state policy. These findings come as Russian airstrikes continue to kill and maim civilians, including children, and destroy civilian infrastructure.
According to the Commission, Russian forces have repeatedly killed and injured civilians in an area stretching over 100 kilometers along the right bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraineās Kherson Province since July 2024.
The Commission found that the attacks followed a regular pattern and modus operandi, demonstrating that they were planned, directed, and organized. To date, there is no information suggesting that Russian military and civilian authorities have taken steps to prevent or stop these crimes.
According to official sources, nearly 150 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured by drone attacks in Kherson City and 16 other Ukrainian-controlled areas. The victims were mostly men, but also included women and children. Civilians were targeted while carrying out their daily activities, whether on foot or in any type of vehicle.
According to the report, the drone operators used video feeds transmitted in real time by cameras embedded in the drones to focus on visible civilian targets and drop explosives on them. Hundreds of these video feeds have regularly been disseminated on Russian Telegram channels with thousands of subscribers. These feeds display crimes and announce further attacks.
Ambulances, which are specially protected under international law, have been targeted and struck by drones to prevent them from reaching victims of previous attacks. Some of these victims have died as a result of not being transported to a medical facility in time.
Using drones to target civilians and civilian objects violates the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law, which states that attacks may only be directed at military targets.
The report states that the evidence collected leaves no doubt that the perpetrators intended to carry out these acts. Therefore, the Commission concludes that the Russian armed forces perpetrated the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians in Kherson Province. The Commission also found that posting videos of civilians being killed or injured constitutes the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity.
The civilian population in areas affected by drone attacks lives in constant fear. Residents take risks every time they go outside, fearing they may be struck by drones. Many wait for cloudy days to go out or seek cover under trees where possible. Fear is further induced by frequent threatening messages posted on Telegram, such as "Get out of the city before the leaves fall, you who are destined to die."
According to the Commission, the circumstances of the attacks, the videos, and the explicit threatening text posts demonstrate that the Russian armed forces and their supporters have committed acts of violence or made threats for the primary purpose of terrorizing the civilian population, which violates international humanitarian law.
The scale and intensity of drone attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, the destruction of homes and basic facilities, the targeting of transportation systems, and attacks on emergency services have rendered affected areas uninhabitable, leaving many residents with no choice but to flee.
Recurrent drone attacks, widely disseminated videos of them, and numerous posts explicitly exhorting the population to leave suggest a coordinated state policy by the Russian authorities to force the population of Kherson Province to leave the area.
Therefore, the Commission concluded that the Russian armed forces may have committed the crime against humanity of forcibly transferring the population.
The Commission of Inquiry examined over 300 publicly available videos of attacks and over 600 text posts on Telegram channels, identifying victims of these attacks where possible. Additionally, the panel interviewed over 90 individuals from areas affected by drone attacks, including victims, witnesses, local authorities, and medical personnel.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine is a body established by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate alleged human rights violations, violations of international humanitarian law, and related crimes in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The commissionersāErik MĆøse (chair), Pablo de Greiff, and Vrinda Groverāare not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.
Russian attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure continue across the country
Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes have continued to kill and injure civilians, including children, and to destroy civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, apartment buildings, schools, and playgrounds. This has been particularly true in the Donetsk, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions.
According to UN-verified data, at least 220 children in Ukraine were killed or injured in attacks from January to April 2025.
Since Saturday, Russian forces have launched the most substantial aerial assault on Ukraine since the invasion began in February 2022. On Saturday alone, Russian forces launched more than 350 drones and missiles targeting multiple cities.
UN Secretary-General AntĆ³nio Guterres condemned the large-scale aerial attacks over the weekend. According to his spokesman, Guterres is also concerned about the impact of reported Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian civilian population.
On Monday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĆ¼rk stated that the killing and injuring of dozens of civilians over the weekend, primarily in attacks launched by Russian armed forces, underscores the urgent need to end the conflict in Ukraine and commit to achieving lasting peace.
āIt is time to put an end to Russiaās invasion of Ukraine, to commit to - and implement - a comprehensive ceasefire that stops the daily killing and destruction, and to start genuine peace negotiations, built on respect for international law,ā TĆ¼rk said.
āTo achieve a sustainable solution, it is imperative to put people and their human rights first. The needs and rights of those most affected by the conflict, including prisoners of war (POWs), civilian detainees, deported and forcibly transferred children, the displaced and those living in occupied territory of Ukraine, must be at the center of the discussions around peace.ā
On Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that recent waves of airstrikes across Ukraine have killed and injured civilians and damaged civilian infrastructure on a large scale. Ukrainian authorities have reported more than 160 civilian casualties across the country in recent days.
The city of Kyiv and towns in the Donetsk, Kherson, Kyiv, and Zhytomyr regions have been the hardest hit. In Kyiv, the capital, a series of airstrikes over the weekend injured at least 30 people and damaged residential buildings and a business center, according to local authorities. In the Kyiv region, four civilians, including three children, were killed and a dozen others were injured in the attacks.
Matthias Schmale, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, said that no place in the country is safe and that, yet again, civilians ā including children ā were killed in these attacks. Over the weekend, Schmale and Andrea De Domenico, the head of OCHAās Ukraine office, led a humanitarian convoy carrying critical supplies, including food and hygiene items, to support residents of a front-line community in the Kherson region.
UN aid agencies and partners have delivered at least 22 humanitarian convoys to front-line communities across Ukraine this year, reaching more than 30,000 residents.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities reported that air strikes and hostilities in the previous two days resulted in at least 35 civilian casualties, including children, and damaged homes, railway infrastructure, and other civilian facilities. The regions of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Sumy, and Chernihiv were among the worst affected.
February 24, 2025, marked three years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has left more than 45,000 civilians dead or injured. Russia escalated the conflict by invading Ukraine on multiple fronts in 2022.
From February 2022 to April 2025, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified the deaths of over 13,100 civilians, including 701 children, and injuries to nearly 31,900 people in Ukraine. Most of the casualties were caused by shelling, artillery, and rocket attacks.
As these are UN-verified figures, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher. According to human rights monitors, many reports, particularly from certain locations ā such as Mariupol and Lysychansk ā and from the immediate aftermath of February 24, three years ago, are still being verified due to the large volume of reports. Others could not be verified due to a lack of access to the relevant areas.
Attacks on civilian infrastructure continue to devastate lives and communities, leaving humanitarian needs critical throughout the country. In 2025, an estimated 12.7 million people in Ukraine require humanitarian assistance, primarily women, children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities.
Civilians remain particularly vulnerable to relentless Russian attacks, especially along the eastern and southern frontlines. Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, are widespread in the ongoing armed assault.
Despite ongoing international discussions about peace talks, the situation in Ukraine remains extremely volatile. Daily threats of shelling and airstrikes continue to endanger lives. Ukrainians continue to be killed, wounded, and deeply traumatized by the violence.
The armed conflict has created the largest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II. More than 10.6 million people are still displaced, and new waves of displacement are occurring in the north and east due to ongoing hostilities. As of April 2025, approximately 6.9 million people had fled to other countries, primarily the Russian Federation, Poland, and Germany, while 3.7 million were displaced within Ukraine.
Heavy fighting continues to limit humanitarian access, making it difficult to deliver lifesaving assistance to the most vulnerable. Despite this and additional challenges, by the end of March 2025, humanitarian organizations had reached approximately 2.3 million people across Ukraine with life-saving assistance.
However, due to funding constraints, humanitarian aid agencies have scaled back or suspended critical programs, which has had a negative impact on some of the most at-risk individuals.
Further information
Full text: āThey are hunting usā: systematic drone attacks targeting civilians in Kherson, Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, report, published May 28, 2025
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiukraine/a-hrc-59-crp2-en.pdf
Website: Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iicihr-ukraine/index