UN Investigation Accuses Russia of New Crimes Against Humanity in Ukraine

A United Nations-backed investigation has accused Russia of committing crimes against humanity by using relentless drone attacks to force Ukrainian civilians to flee their homes.

In its latest report released Monday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine also found that Russian authorities had carried out war crimes, including the deportation and transfer of civilians from occupied areas of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

“Russian authorities have systematically coordinated actions to drive out Ukrainian civilians from their place of residence by drone attacks, as well as deportations and transfers,” the commission stated.

The commission, established by the UN Human Rights Council shortly after Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, said it had now confirmed that Russia “committed the crime against humanity of murder” across a wider area than previously documented.

It also accused Russian forces of “intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects,” and “inflicting inhuman treatment” — clear violations of international humanitarian law.

🔹 Drone Attacks Expanded Across Regions

In May, investigators concluded that Russia’s repeated drone assaults on civilians along a 100-kilometre stretch of the Dnipro River’s right bank in Kherson constituted murder as a crime against humanity.

Now, the commission says those findings extend to a 300-kilometre area spanning the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions, where drone strikes have been used as part of a “coordinated policy to drive out civilians.”

“For over one year, Russian armed forces have been directing drone attacks against an extensive range of civilian targets,” the report noted, including homes, humanitarian aid centres, and energy infrastructure.

The attacks have forced thousands to flee, the commission said, describing a centralised Russian command that deliberately targets civilians and first responders, including ambulance crews and firefighters — even striking marked emergency vehicles multiple times.

🔹 Deportations and Forced Transfers

The report also documented evidence that Russian forces have deported and transferred civilians from occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia, calling these acts war crimes.

“Arrests, detentions, violence — sometimes including torture — searches, and confiscations of documents preceded these deportations,” the report revealed.

According to investigators, in 2022 and 2023, civilians were forced to walk up to 15 kilometres through dangerous conflict zones to reach Ukrainian-controlled territory. Since 2024, some have been deported via Russia to Georgia and handed orders banning re-entry into Russia for 20 to 40 years.

The commission said it based its findings on 226 interviews with victims and witnesses and analyzed over 500 videos, nearly half of which were geolocated to confirm authenticity.

Previously, the same body accused Russia of illegally transferring Ukrainian children into territories under its control — actions it classified as war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.

Moscow has refused to recognise the commission’s legitimacy and has not responded to its requests for access or cooperation.

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