 "Russia intentionally attacks Ukrainian civilians with drones in acts of war crime: UN probe")
In its ongoing war on Ukraine, Russia has systematically and deliberately targeted Ukrainian civilians with drones in acts that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, a United Nations (UN) inquiry has concluded.
In its latest report published on Monday, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine documented hundreds of instances in which Russian drone operators targeted civilians in the city of Kherson, according to The New York Times.
The report stated that Russian drones have been dropping grenades on civilians going about their daily lives in Kherson for over a year — people were attacked while walking on pavements and in the backyards of their homes.
Rather than being isolated acts of cruelty, such attacks were part of a campaign to create “a permanent climate of terror” and to force residents out of Kherson, the report said.
“These attacks were committed as part of a coordinated policy to drive out civilians from those territories and amount to the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population,” the report added.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, multiple UN and independent investigations have concluded that Russia has systematically targeted Ukrainian civilians with missiles and drones, tortured detainees, and used sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsUN has previously indicted Russia for sexual violence as torture
In earlier reports, the UN concluded that Russia subjected detainees —both soldiers and civilians— to torture and sexual violence, constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In its October 2024 report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found that “sexual violence as a form of torture has been prevalent in detention facilities held by Russian authorities".
The report detailed that Russian authorities’ acts of sexual violence included rape, attempted rape, attempted rape using objects, beatings, electric shocks, burns or other assaults on genital organs, forced nudity, threats of sexual mutilation and castration, and intrusive body searches.
The Commission reported testimonies of sexual violence as a form of torture in 41 Russian detention centres.
The report also stated that most Ukrainian prisoners of war had reported being subjected to sexual violence.
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