Ukraine investigates over 16,000 Russian drone strikes on civilians
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, more than 16,000 criminal proceedings have been registered in Ukraine over Russian short-range drone attacks on civilians. The drone attacks have affected nearly 7,000 people, including 179 children. A total of 967 people have been killed, including 10 children, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stated.
Illustrative photoThe highest number of such incidents has been recorded in the Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy Regions (Oblasts), according to Kravchenko.
He said that the number of such crimes has been increasing each year. Law enforcement authorities recorded 187 cases in 2022 and 2023 combined. In 2024, there were 2,685 cases; in 2025, the number rose to 7,787.
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Since the beginning of 2026, Ukraine has already documented 2,614 criminal offences related to short-range drone attacks.
“This is not an accident or a side effect of hostilities. It is a deliberate tactic chosen by Russian criminals that continues to this day,” Kravchenko said.
According to Kravchenko, Russian forces particularly often target people working near combat zones. They include medics, emergency responders, police officers, journalists, utility workers and representatives of humanitarian missions.
Law enforcement authorities have also documented at least 43 cases of so-called double-tap strikes. These are attacks in which Russian drone operators wait until people arrive at the site of an initial strike to help the wounded and then carry out a second attack.
Kravchenko said Ukrainian law enforcement authorities are documenting each such case and identifying not only the drone operators directly involved, but also the military units and commanders who may be responsible for the attacks.
“In a number of criminal proceedings, the names are already known,” the prosecutor general said.
One such attack occurred in Kherson. Ukraine’s National Police released footage showing a Russian FPV drone striking a vegetable seller at one of the city’s markets. The 52-year-old man from the Mykolaiv Oblast survived. He was diagnosed with a blast injury, shrapnel wounds and a concussion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described systematic Russian drone attacks on civilians in Kherson as a “safari.” He has called on the international community to pay greater attention to such crimes and increase pressure on Russia.
The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has also documented numerous cases of drone attacks on civilians.
Ukrainian authorities and international organisations consider some of these attacks to be war crimes and emphasise their deliberate nature.
Russian authorities deny intentionally targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
To provide background, on 7 August 2026, two emergency responders were wounded in a Russian double-tap strike in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian forces carried out the attack in the Zaporizhzhia District, where a rescue crew was working at the site of an earlier strike.
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