The independent international commission for the investigation of crimes in Ukraine recognized that the strikes by Russian drones on civilians on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region fall under the definition of crimes against humanity. About this it is said in the report of the commission.
“The independent international commission of inquiry regarding Ukraine concluded that the Russian armed forces committed crimes against humanity in the form of murders and war crimes in the form of attacks on the civilian population – as a result of months-long and systematic drone attacks on civilians on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region of Ukraine. The commission also established that these actions were committed with the primary purpose of spreading terror among the civilian population, which is violation of international humanitarian law”, – the report says.
According to the document, since at least July 2024, Russian drone operators stationed on the left bank “systematically attacked civilians in various circumstances, mostly when they were in open space, walking or using vehicles.” It is also noted that ambulances were hit, which often made it impossible to provide timely medical assistance to the injured. According to the Commission’s estimates, as of the time of preparation of the report, almost 150 civilians have been killed, hundreds more have been injured, and attacks continue.
“Individual drone attacks constitute war crimes in the form of deliberate attacks on civilians. These repeated attacks on numerous civilian targets over a 10-month period over a large area demonstrate their large-scale and systematic nature, and indicate that they were pre-planned and organized, requiring the mobilization and deployment of appropriate resources.” – stated in the report.
The commission concluded that “the Russian armed forces attacked the civilian population with drones and committed murders, which is a crime against humanity.”
“The commission also established that the Russian armed forces and their supporters committed acts of violence or threatened them with the primary goal of spreading terror among the civilian population in the attacked areas of Kherson region, which is a violation of international humanitarian law. The nature and wide range of attacks, their targeting of specific civilian objects, frequency, intensity, geographical coverage and circumstances of their implementation caused the spread of fear among the civilian population.” – it is noted in the document.
It was also emphasized that the distribution of videos of killings and injuries of civilians on Russian Telegram channels “is a war crime in the form of an attack on human dignity.”
