Drones become most common cause of death for civilians in Ukraine war, UN says
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A downed Russian drone near the frontline in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Feb 8.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV – Short-range aerial drones were the most common killer of civilians in Ukraine in January, the UN monitoring mission said on Feb 11, highlighting how drone use has ballooned during three years of the war with Russia.
The UN mission said at least 139 civilians were killed and 738 wounded in January 2025, with 27 per cent of the deaths and 30 per cent of the injuries caused by short-range drones.
In total, the UN said that nearly 12,500 civilians have been killed in the war, including 650 children.
The UN has, however, repeatedly said its tally is an undercount since it includes only deaths its teams have managed to verify.
Aerial drones, which at the start of the war were mostly seen as auxiliary tools, have become one of the most important battlefield weapons in the conflict.
Both Ukraine and Russia produced well over a million of them each in 2024.
“Our data shows a clear and disturbing pattern of short-range drones being used in ways that put civilians at grave risk,” a statement quoted the UN monitoring mission’s head, Ms Danielle Bell, as saying.
“The on-board (drone) cameras should allow operators to distinguish with a higher degree of certainty between civilians and military objectives, yet civilians continue to be killed in alarming numbers,” she said.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, though many thousands have been killed since it launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. REUTERS
