In Kherson, Ukraine, civilians who have endured years of shelling are increasingly being hunted from above in attacks that give a terrifying look of what future unlawful attacks may look like the world over.
The story of Anastasia Pavlenko, a 23-year-old mother of two, is the perfect illustration of how Russia is using drone technology against civilians in violation of international law — and how armed groups anywhere in the world could do the same. Pavlenko was cycling to an appointment when she saw a drone take off from the roof of a house and start to follow her. The drone tracked her for nearly 300 meters. As she approached a bridge, the drone dropped a munition, which struck the ground nearby and exploded, injuring her in the neck, leg and rib. In shock, Pavlenko continued on her bike toward the underpass, covered in blood and with flat tires.
This incident is included in Human Rights Watch’s latest report on Ukraine, which documents — for the first time — Russia using these drones in Ukraine to deliberately target civilians, kill and maim them, instill terror, and cause them to flee, in attacks that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Drone attacks like these accounted for 70 percent of civilian casualties recorded in Kherson by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. And they continue unabated. Human Rights Watch found compelling video evidence showing Russian soldiers deliberately targeting civilians in Kherson using drones that transmit high resolution video feed to their operators in real-time.
The operators are even posting many of these videos on private Telegram channels. A video showing the attack on Pavlenko from the drone’s camera feed was uploaded to a Russian military-affiliated telegram channel. It is captioned: “Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers ride bicycles. This character was accurately eliminated … [Medical] Evacuation is not allowed to approach.”
This claim is a lie — she is a civilian.
Since June 2024, Russian forces have launched dozens of drone attacks on homes, hospitals and schools in Kherson. But they are not carrying these out with the large, high-tech military drones often associated with modern warfare. They are using small, commercially available quadcopters — cheap, nimble and deadly when adapted to deliver weapons.
Russian forces have used these drones — armed with explosives, antipersonnel landmines and incendiary weapons — to kill or injure hundreds of civilians, disrupt essential services, and ultimately instill such fear into families as to cause them to flee.
Our findings match those of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine in its latest report published on May 28.
Armed drones, initially used by armies mostly in the context of so-called counter-terrorism operations, provide the potential for a more precise way to wage war, and most important to improve respect for the laws of war. The precision with which drones can be used to identify lawful targets should help warring parties minimize civilian harm. But that all depends on the warring parties choosing lawful targets.
The Kherson drone campaign shows that it can also be cheap to carry out unlawful precise targeted attacks on civilians.
Russia’s use of these off-the-shelf drones in a campaign designed to fundamentally violate international humanitarian law has global implications. These quadcopters are inexpensive, widely available and easy to operate. They can hover over a neighborhood, identify a civilian and drop munitions with clinical precision.
And warring parties can arm these drones, as Russia has, with indiscriminate weapons such as antipersonnel mines, which are prohibited by 165 countries including Ukraine. For a military wanting to terrorize a population, this is a gift. For civilians living in conflict affected areas, it’s a nightmare.
The problem here is not the drones themselves, which can be used lawfully in conflict zones. It is what can be done with them in the hands of a warring party that willfully violates the laws of war and wants to target civilians.
The physical and psychological toll on Kherson’s residents is immense. Those who remain have had to reduce time outside their homes to minimize the risk of being killed, but are also afraid of being attacked in their homes. A major effect has been depopulation.
Russia needs to stop unlawful attacks on civilians. And the international community also needs to make clear the cost of these attacks on civilians, and to communicate to Russia in no uncertain terms that full accountability for them will be pursued and enforced.
Governments should condemn the use of antipersonnel mines in quadcopter drone attacks and not take steps that undermine the international ban on these weapons. There is a need to urgently identify more effective ways to enforce respect for international humanitarian law in Ukraine and elsewhere, including through prosecutions of war crimes. Commercial drone companies should also strategize with governments on what measures could be put in place to prevent or minimize occurrence of such unlawful use.
The international community should not stand silently by. Failure to act could mean that Kherson becomes the blueprint for future wars — where civilians are hunted from above, not by accident, but by design.
