Russia used drones to hunt civilians in Ukraine, UN report shows / “They are effectively following people, whether they are in their gardens, at home or on the street”

Russia has used drones to target and drive civilians from towns close to the front line in Ukraine, forcing thousands to flee their homes in an action that amounts to a crime against humanity, according to a UN investigation.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine shows, in a report published on Monday, that Russian drones equipped with cameras harassed civilians at long distances, and some of them were later attacked with explosives while trying to take cover, Reuters notes.

“These attacks were carried out as part of a coordinated policy to expel civilians from those territories and amount to a crime against humanity by forcibly displacing the population,” said the 17-page report to be presented this week to the UN General Assembly.

The findings are based on interviews with 226 people – victims, witnesses, aid workers and representatives of local authorities – as well as analysis of hundreds of videos.

The attacks described in the report took place over the course of more than a year in three regions of southern Ukraine, close to the front line and on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River, controlled by Russian forces.

Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians in Ukraine, although its forces have killed thousands since the full-scale invasion began three and a half years ago. Ukraine has in turn attacked civilian infrastructure targets in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, but on a much smaller scale.

According to the report, a Kherson woman was followed by a drone in August 2024 while parking her car and injured after the device attacked her as she tried to take refuge in the garage. On the same day, two other drones hit her home, which she was later forced to leave.

The drone attacks have led to a sharp decline in the population in some areas, where only elderly or disabled people remain, the report said.

“There is no doubt that the operators of these drones acted with intent,” Erik Mose, chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, told Reuters. “They're actually following people, whether they're in their gardens, at home or on the street,” he said.

Some of the survivors interviewed by UN investigators said they felt “hunted,” and Mose said the attackers had used the same term in drone videos posted online.

The report shows that firefighters, medical personnel and other emergency response teams were also attacked, leaving locals without emergency services exactly where they were needed most.

The UN commission had already stated, in a report published in May, that these attacks amount to a crime against humanity by murder. In the new document, the investigators conclude that they also represent a form of forced displacement and that they spread over a wider area of ​​more than 300 kilometers.

The report also notes that Russian authorities have coordinated actions to deport or transfer civilians from areas of the Zaporizhia region under their control – actions that, according to investigators, constitute war crimes.