A United Nations-backed investigation has accused Russia of committing crimes against humanity by forcing civilians to flee Ukrainian-held territories through ongoing drone attacks and deportations.
In a report released Monday, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said Russian forces have deliberately targeted civilians for over a year as part of a coordinated effort to drive people from their homes.
“Russian authorities have systematically coordinated actions to drive out Ukrainian civilians by drone attacks, deportations, and transfers,” the commission said.
Expanded evidence of atrocities
The commission, created by the UN Human Rights Council shortly after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, said Russia committed “the crime against humanity of murder” across wider areas than previously documented.
It also found evidence of war crimes, including deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, inhumane treatment, and other violations of international humanitarian law (IHL, also referred to as laws of armed conflict, or LOAC).
In May, the commission concluded that Russian drone attacks along a 100-kilometer stretch of the Dnipro River’s right bank in Kherson constituted murder as a crime against humanity.
The latest report expands that finding to a 300-kilometer area covering parts of the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions.
The attacks, it said, were part of a “coordinated policy to drive out civilians” and amounted to the crime against humanity of forcible population transfer.
“For over a year, Russian armed forces have directed drone attacks against a wide range of civilian targets – including homes, humanitarian centers, and critical energy facilities,” the report stated. “These attacks have compelled thousands to flee.”
The report also accused Russian troops of hitting ambulance crews and firefighters – even after vehicles were clearly marked – and described the strikes as intentional and centrally coordinated.
Deportations from occupied regions
The commission further concluded that Russia’s efforts to force civilians from occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region amounted to the war crimes of deportation and unlawful transfer.
“Arrests, detentions, violence, and property confiscations often preceded deportations,” the report said. Civilians were sent through dangerous front-line zones or deported to Russia and onward to Georgia, with bans preventing them from returning for decades.
The findings are based on interviews with 226 victims and witnesses, and analysis of more than 500 videos, nearly half of which were geolocated by investigators.
The commission has previously found that Russia’s forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian-controlled areas constituted war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.
Moscow has refused to recognize the commission or cooperate with its investigations.