Evidence Indicates Russian Drones Targeting Civilians

One day, shortly before midday, Serhiy Dobrovolsky, a hardware merchant, arrived back at his residence in Kherson, located in southern Ukraine. He entered his yard, lit a cigarette, and conversed with his adjacent neighbour. Abruptly, they detected the distinct sound of a drone flying above them. Angela, who had been Serhiy’s wife for 32 years, recounted witnessing her husband attempt to find shelter as the drone deployed a grenade. She stated, “He died before the ambulance arrived. I was told he was very unlucky, because a piece of shrapnel pierced his heart,” as she became emotional. According to Kherson’s military administration, which informed the BBC, Serhiy is among 30 non-combatants who have lost their lives in a significant increase in Russian drone assaults in the city since 1 July. Over this identical timeframe, the administration has documented over 5,000 drone strikes, resulting in injuries to more than 400 civilians. Unmanned aerial vehicles have transformed combat operations in Ukraine, with both Ukrainian and Russian forces employing them against military objectives. However, the BBC has gathered eyewitness accounts and observed reliable evidence indicating that Russia is also deploying drones against non-military individuals in the frontline city of Kherson. Angela remarked, “They can see who they are killing.” She questioned, “Is this how they want to fight, by just bombing people walking in the streets?” Should Russia be determined to be deliberately targeting non-combatants, such actions would constitute a war crime. The Russian armed forces did not provide a response to the BBC’s inquiries regarding these accusations. Since its comprehensive invasion in February 2022, Russia has consistently refuted claims of intentionally targeting civilian populations. Numerous videos circulated on Ukrainian and Russian social media platforms display apparent drone attacks on civilians, with six of these videos having been scrutinized by BBC Verify. Each video shows, via the remote operator’s camera, the tracking of a pedestrian or driver dressed in civilian attire, frequently deploying grenades that occasionally seem to gravely wound or fatally injure their intended target. BBC Verify additionally managed to pinpoint a Telegram channel containing the earliest publicly available versions observed for five of the six videos that were analyzed. Each post included taunts and threats directed at the Ukrainian populace, asserting that all vehicles were valid targets and advising individuals to reduce their public activity. The wounded individuals were also subjected to insults, being labeled “pigs,” or in one instance, ridiculed for being female. The user account responsible for sharing some of these drone videos also uploaded pictures of drones, both packaged and unpackaged, along with other equipment images, expressing gratitude for contributions received. Kherson’s military administration informed the BBC that Russia has altered the models of drones it employs, rendering the city’s electronic defense systems largely incapable of intercepting most of them. Kristina Synia, who is employed at an aid center situated merely 1km (0.6 mile) from the Dnipro river, stated, “You feel like you’re constantly being hunted, like someone is always looking at you, and can drop explosives at any moment. It’s the worst thing.” To reach the facility without being tracked by drones, we travel at considerable speed, utilize tree cover for parking, and then promptly proceed inside. Behind Kristina, on a shelf, a compact device verified the external danger, emitting a buzz whenever it identified a drone. It vibrated every few minutes during our visit, frequently indicating the presence of a minimum of four drones. The residents we encountered, who ventured from their homes solely to acquire food, displayed visible signs of trauma. Valentyna Mykolaivna wiped her eyes, remarking, “We are in a horrible situation. When we come out, we move from one tree to another, taking cover. Every day they attack public buses, every day they drop bombs on us using drones.” Olena Kryvchun recounted that a drone strike on her vehicle narrowly missed her. Moments before she intended to re-enter her car after seeing a friend, an explosive penetrated the roof above the driver’s seat, tearing through one side of the automobile and transforming it into a twisted wreckage of metal, plastic, and glass. She stated, “If I’d been in my car, I would have died. Do I look like a military person, does my car look like a military car?” She is employed as a cleaner, and her car was vital for her profession. She lacks the financial resources to repair it. Olena expressed that drones instill greater fear than shelling. She explained, “When we hear a shell launch from the other side of the river, we have time to react. With drones, you can easily miss their sound. They are quick, they see you and strike.” Ben Dusing, who manages the aid center, asserted that drones propagate even greater apprehension than shelling, effectively paralyzing the populace. He commented, “If a drone locks on you, the truth is it’s probably ‘game over’ at that point. There’s no defence against it.” According to Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, spokesperson for Kherson’s military administration, over the past several months, the Russian military has also started deploying drones to remotely deposit mines along pedestrian pathways, car routes, and bus lines. He mentioned that explosions have resulted from butterfly mines – compact, anti-personnel devices capable of gliding to the ground and later detonating upon contact – which are covered with leaves for concealment. The BBC has been unable to confirm the deployment of drones for mine distribution within Kherson. Olena stated that with the onset of winter, the apprehension surrounding drones will intensify. She elaborated, “When the leaves fall from the trees, there will be many more victims. Because if you are in the street, there’s nowhere to hide.” We successfully pinpointed the locations of the six analyzed videos, all of which were recorded in the eastern part of Kherson, by recognizing unique characteristics within the city’s thoroughfares. In one specific instance – involving a drone dropping an explosive on two pedestrians, severely injuring one to the point of immobility – the identifying feature was a curve at a T-junction, indicating the Dniprovs’kyi district or the adjacent suburb of Antonivka, rather than the central area of Kherson city. Upon identifying a potential location, we were able to correlate discernible landmarks in the video with satellite imagery – specifically, the buildings and pylons in this scenario – thereby confirming the exact site of the attack within the city. To ascertain the initial public appearance of the videos, we processed multiple frames from each through search engines. Frequently, the earliest outcome was a specific Telegram channel, preceding re-uploads on platforms like X or Reddit by several hours. With the location of each attack established, we could determine the filming time by analyzing shadows and cross-referencing with weather data to ascertain the most probable date. Four of the videos we reviewed were uploaded to the Telegram channel the day following their probable filming, and in one instance, the upload occurred eight hours later on the same day. Further reporting was contributed by Imogen Anderson, Anastasiia Levchenko, and Volodymyr Lozhko. Verification efforts were conducted by Richard Irvine-Brown. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the material found on external websites. Information regarding our policy on external linking is available.