NGO urges Russian accountability for warfare crimes in focusing on Ukrainians with drones.
Russian forces have been utilizing drones to hunt and assault civilians in Ukraine and proceed to take action, in response to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In a report launched on Tuesday, HRW said that the Russian army has repeatedly deployed unmanned drones to assault civilian targets in its greater than three-year warfare with Ukraine. The NGO mentioned that dozens of civilians have been killed and lots of injured in violation of the legal guidelines of warfare.
Referencing video from Russian drones and witnesses and survivors, the rights watchdog alleges that Russia has “intentionally or recklessly” hunted civilians and civilian objects, notably within the southern metropolis of Kherson, utilizing “commercially obtainable quadcopter drones” made domestically and in China.
“Russian drone operators are in a position to observe their targets, with high-resolution video feeds, leaving little doubt that the intent is to kill, maim, and terrify civilians,” Belkis Wille, a director on arms and battle at HRW, mentioned in an announcement.
“They exemplify why the worldwide group must help all avenues of accountability for victims of Russian warfare crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity in Ukraine.”
The findings help studies from residents and officers in Kherson earlier this 12 months that mentioned Russian drone operators had been coaching by focusing on civilians in “human safaris”.
HRW interviewed 36 survivors and witnesses to assaults and combed by way of 83 movies uploaded on Russian military-affiliated Telegram channels, in addition to visible supplies supplied by witnesses and researchers.
General, not less than 45 “deliberate drone assaults” by Russian forces from June to December 2024 on civilians and civilian objects, together with healthcare amenities, had been recorded.
Authorities in Kherson reported not less than 30 deaths and 500 civilian accidents from drone assaults across the identical interval.
A January 2025 report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission mentioned drone assaults accounted for 70 p.c of civilian casualties in Kherson.
“The assaults have the obvious function of instilling terror within the civilian inhabitants in Kherson, a part of a widespread assault in opposition to that inhabitants,” the report mentioned.
HRW mentioned Russia deployed business drones made by the Chinese language firms, DJI and Autel, and by one Russian entity, Sudoplatov, which has purportedly described itself as a “volunteer organisation”.
