Russian drone strikes in Ukraine are war crimes, UN commission says

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.

联合国人权委员会周一称，俄罗斯无人机在乌克兰的袭击是战争罪行。

乌克兰问题独立国际调查委员会的报告称，在横贯乌克兰的第聂伯河沿岸近 200 英里范围内，无人机袭击的目标是乌克兰平民。

报告称：“俄罗斯武装部队使用短程无人机对乌克兰政府控制的河流右岸发动袭击，完全无视平民，造成平民伤亡和财产损失。”

撰写这份报告的调查小组由联合国人权理事会任命，成立于 2022 年。调查人员引用 500 个公开视频和 226 次对乌克兰公民的采访作为证据，称俄罗斯在近四年的冲突中发动的无人机袭击是蓄意协调的，目的是散布恐怖主义。

该报告还声称，乌克兰平民正被强行驱逐出居住地。报告没有指明任何具体的肇事者，仅表示“俄罗斯武装部队”或“俄罗斯当局”对此负有责任。

报告指出：“除了袭击人员外，俄罗斯武装部队还持续使用无人机袭击各种民用目标，包括民用房屋、建筑物、集会点、人道主义物资分发点以及为平民服务的关键基础设施。”

俄罗斯否认蓄意以平民为目标。联合国委员会表示，无法调查俄罗斯关于乌克兰无人机袭击平民的说法。

联合国在一份声明中表示：“委员会还审查了俄罗斯关于乌克兰武装部队使用无人机袭击俄罗斯占领区平民目标的指控。”

联合国表示：“由于无法进入该地区、担心证人安全以及俄罗斯当局缺乏回应，因此无法得出任何结论。”

该报告描述了正在使用的各种短程低成本无人机，包括俄罗斯制造的VT-40四旋翼无人机和中国制造的四旋翼无人机。

报告指出：“无人机上通常会挂载各种类型的爆炸物，包括手榴弹、迫击炮弹、RPG-7火箭筒弹药、蝴蝶地雷、改装的反坦克地雷，以及简易易燃或爆炸性物质。”

齐塔·巴林格·弗莱彻曾任《军事史季刊》和《越南》杂志的编辑，以及美国缉毒署的历史学家。她拥有军事史硕士学位（成绩优异）。