More than 16,000 criminal proceedings have been opened over Russian drone attacks on civilians since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and this is not a byproduct of hostilities but a tactic of terror against the civilian population chosen by the enemy, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said.
"This morning, at an ordinary market in Kherson, a Russian drone attacked a 52-year-old vendor. It circled. It waited. And it struck. Not a military target. Not equipment. A civilian who had nothing to do with the army," the prosecutor general wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
The man sustained a blast injury, concussion and shrapnel wounds, received medical assistance, and a pretrial investigation into the war crime has been opened, he said.
Kravchenko stressed that this is not an isolated case of cruelty by an individual Russian armed forces operator.
"Remote killing of civilians using FPV drones has become a method of terror in front-line areas. Russia is systematically, deliberately and demonstratively violating and disregarding all norms of international humanitarian law," the prosecutor general said.
He said more than 16,000 criminal proceedings have been opened over attacks by short-range drones on civilians since the start of the full-scale invasion, with most such crimes recorded in Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.
"In 2022-2023, 187 such crimes were recorded. In 2024, the number rose 14-fold to 2,685. In 2025, it nearly tripled again to 7,787. This is not a coincidence or a ‘byproduct’ of hostilities. It is a deliberate tactic of Russian criminals that continues to this day. Since the start of 2026, 2,614 such crimes have already been recorded," Kravchenko said.
Nearly 7,000 people have been affected by these crimes, including 179 children, the prosecutor general said. "967 people have been killed, including 10 children," he said.
Russia is specifically targeting medical workers, rescuers, police officers, journalists, utility workers and humanitarian mission staff, Kravchenko said.
"We have also recorded 43 cases of Russian drone operators using a double-tap tactic. After the first attack, they waited for other people to arrive to help the victims and then struck again," the prosecutor general said.
He said every such strike is being documented by law enforcement. "Our task is to identify the operator, the unit and the entire chain of command. In a number of criminal proceedings, the names are already known. Accountability for these crimes is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ It will be inevitable," Kravchenko added.
He also said Ukraine’s international partners are already imposing personal sanctions against those involved in the torture and killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians, and introducing entry bans for anyone who fought against Ukraine as part of the Russian armed forces.
"Everyone responsible will face trial and feel the force of international justice," the prosecutor general said.
