UNITED NATIONS — In a report submitted to the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said Russian forces have used short-range Kherson drones to deliberately target civilians and civilian objects along the right bank of the Dnipro River since July 2024, concluding the attacks amount to crimes against humanity. The commission cited local authorities who reported more than 200 civilians killed and more than 2,000 injured in three southern regions, and said the strikes follow a repeated pattern meant to terrorize residents and drive them from frontline towns, Oct. 27, 2025.
What the UN says about Kherson drones
In the advance unedited version of the commission’s report, investigators said the targeted area spans more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) along the right bank of the river, across Kherson, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The report describes a repeated modus operandi carried out from Russian-held territory on the opposite bank, with units operating under centralized command and striking homes, humanitarian distribution points and critical infrastructure that serves civilians.
The commission said short-range drones also hit first responders, including ambulances and fire brigades, despite their special protection under international humanitarian law. In witness accounts summarized by investigators, residents said life became unlivable as attacks disrupted basic services and made emergency response dangerous or impossible. One woman who left a frequently attacked area told investigators, “Drones strike any car, any transport – nobody comes here, not the fire brigade, not the ambulance, nobody.”
The commission has previously focused specifically on Kherson Province, where it said drone strikes had already shown a systematic pattern. In its May 2025 findings, the panel said nearly 150 civilians had been killed in Kherson city and nearby localities, and described drone operators using real-time video feeds to target people whose activities were visibly civilian. A senior health professional quoted in the U.N. findings said, “They drop explosives from drones like it is a video game.”
Why residents call the Kherson drones campaign a ‘human safari’
Residents and Ukrainian officials have increasingly used the phrase “human safari” to describe what they say feels like being hunted from above — not caught in crossfire, but selected as a target. The Associated Press reported from Kherson that the short-range drones often carry livestreaming cameras, allowing operators to track vehicles and people in real time and strike within seconds. The U.N. report says many of these drones are equipped with live streaming cameras, leaving “no doubt” about the perpetrators’ knowledge and intent.
The commission also said it examined allegations from Russian authorities about Ukrainian drone attacks in occupied areas, but could not reach conclusions because it lacked access, had witness-safety concerns and did not receive responses to its questions from Russia.
Earlier warnings about Kherson drones
The U.N. finding lands after months of reporting and research documenting the shift in frontline threats around Kherson. The Guardian reported in October 2024 that adapted quadcopters were dropping explosives in civilian areas and turning simple trips across town into high-risk gambles. The Centre for Information Resilience documented in December 2024 what it described as a sharp escalation in drone-dropped munitions and a pattern of strikes that appeared focused on everyday civilian movement.
In mid-2025, Human Rights Watch detailed dozens of incidents in Kherson involving drones used against civilians and civilian objects, describing attacks it said should be investigated as war crimes. The latest U.N. assessment goes further, saying the scale, repetition and coercive effects of the Kherson drones campaign support the threshold for crimes against humanity.
