Russia turns FPV drones into tools of terror against civilians: nearly 7,000 affected, 967 killed – Prosecutor’s Office
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, more than 16,000 FPV drone attacks on civilians have been documented as part of a systematic campaign of terror in frontline areas. The largest numbers of such crimes have been recorded in the Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko reported this, Censor.NET informs.
"This morning, at an ordinary market in Kherson, a Russian drone attacked a 52-year-old vendor. It circled. It waited. And then it struck. Not a military facility. Not military equipment. A civilian who had nothing whatsoever to do with the military," Kravchenko said.
The man sustained blast trauma, concussion, and shrapnel wounds and received medical treatment. A pre-trial investigation into the war crime has been launched under the procedural supervision of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Kravchenko said.
Remote killings of civilians
This is not an isolated act of cruelty by an individual operator from the Russian Armed Forces. The remote killing of civilians with FPV drones has become a method of terror in frontline areas.
Russia systematically, deliberately and openly violates and disregards every rule of international humanitarian law.
16,000 criminal proceedings over drone attacks on civilians
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 16,000 criminal proceedings have been opened over attacks on civilians involving short-range drones. The largest numbers of such crimes have been recorded in the Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.
- In 2022–2023, 187 such crimes were recorded.
- In 2024, their number increased fourteenfold to 2,685.
- In 2025, it almost tripled again, reaching 7,787. This is neither a coincidence nor a "side effect" of hostilities.
This is a deliberate tactic chosen by Russian criminals, and it continues to this day. Since the beginning of 2026, 2,614 such crimes have already been recorded. Nearly 7,000 people have been affected, including 179 children. A total of 967 people have been killed, including 10 children.
According to the official, the aggressor country is particularly intent on hunting medical workers, rescue workers, police officers, journalists, utility workers and members of humanitarian missions.
There have also been 43 documented cases in which Russian drone operators used double-tap tactics. After the first attack, they waited for others to arrive to help the victims and then launched a second strike.
"These attacks will not be forgotten. We document every such strike. Our task is to identify the operator, the unit, and the entire chain of command. The names are already known in a number of criminal proceedings. Accountability for these crimes is not a question of ‘if,’ but of ‘when.’ It will be inevitable," the prosecutor general stressed.
Kravchenko also added that Ukraine’s international partners are already imposing personal sanctions on those involved in the torture and killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians, as well as entry bans on everyone who fought against Ukraine as part of the Russian Armed Forces. Everyone responsible will face trial and the force of international justice.
