NEW YORK / VIENNA - Russian authorities have systematically coordinated actions to drive out Ukrainian civilians from their homes through recurrent drone attacks, as well as deportations and transfers, said the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine in a new report submitted to the UN General Assembly.
The present report establishes that Russian armed forces' short-range drone attacks affected a wider geographic area, beyond the zone identified in the investigative report published by the Commission in May 2025. The targeted area spans over 300 kilometres along the right bank of the Dnipro River, across Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv Oblasts. The cases documented demonstrate that military units of Russian armed forces operating from the left bank of the Dnipro River, under a centralized command, have used the same modus operandi to intentionally target civilians and civilian objects.
Repeated attacks with short-range drones by Russian armed forces in frontline areas resulted in killing and injuring of civilians, widespread destruction, and a coercive environment that has forced thousands to flee their homes. The Commission concluded that these drone attacks constitute the crimes against humanity of murder and of forcible transfer of population.
For over a year, Russian armed forces have been directing drone attacks against an extensive range of civilian targets, injuring and killing civilians, causing large-scale destruction, and spreading terror. Targets included homes, medical buildings and infrastructure servicing civilians, thereby disrupting essential services. First responders, including ambulances and fire brigades, were also hit, regardless of their special protection under international humanitarian law, impeding their intervention.
Residents described life conditions as unliveable. A woman who left from a frequently attacked area, stated: "Drones strike any car, any transport - nobody comes here, not the fire brigade, not the ambulance, nobody."
Many attacks were carried out in a coordinated sequence, by several drones, or by the same drone launching successive munitions, frequently causing fires. Often, a first drone pierced a hole on the roof, and a second one dropped an explosive through it. Some drones carried flammable substances. A witness of an attack with such substance said: "It is not just an explosion, it hits and then immediately starts to burn - it looks like fireworks."
The Commission has identified perpetrators, drone units and associated military units, as well as commanders, deployed on the left bank of the Dnipro River. They all belong to the "Dnepr" Group of Forces of the Russian Federation.
The report also establishes that Russian authorities have coordinated actions to deport or transfer civilians from areas that came under their control in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, which amounts to war crimes.
In 2024 and 2025, Russian authorities deported Ukrainian civilians from occupied areas in Zaporizhzhia Oblast to Georgia, referring to Russian Federation legislation on the legal status of certain categories of foreign citizens. Perpetrators transported them to the international border between the Russian Federation and Georgia and ordered them to cross.
In 2022 and 2023, Russian authorities transferred civilians to territories under Ukrainian Government control, after accusing them of carrying out activities against the Russian Federation. They brought the victims to a checkpoint at the end of the area they then controlled. There, they forced them to walk through a 10 to 15 kilometer-long highly dangerous operational area to reach territory under Ukrainian control.
With respect to both deportations and transfers, perpetrators usually detained the victims, subjected some of them to torture, and confiscated their documents and belongings. These acts inflicted severe mental pain and suffering and amount to inhuman treatment as a war crime and a violation of human rights.
The evidence shows that Russian authorities in the occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, including senior officials, have acted in a systematic and coordinated manner. These include the so-called "Directorate for Migration Affairs" of the "Ministry of Internal Affairs," established by the Russian Federation, members of the Federal Security Service (FSB), and other authorities.
The Commission also examined allegations by Russian authorities of drone attacks by Ukrainian armed forces against civilian targets in Russian occupied areas. However, it was unable to conclude its investigation due to the lack of access to the territory, concerns relating to the safety of witnesses, and in the absence of response to its questions to the Russian authorities.
