- Category
- War in Ukraine
Russia Systematically Deploys FPV Drones as Weapons of Terror Against Ukrainian Civilians
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko]( "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
Russia is increasingly deploying FPV drones as a tool of deliberate terror against the civilian population rather than a means of combat.
Law enforcement has seen a rapid increase in criminal proceedings regarding short-range drone attacks, with 2,427 attacks recorded in 2024, rising sharply to 6,771 in 2025, according to ASTRA on May 22.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
In the first four months of 2026 alone, 2,010 criminal proceedings have already been registered. This indicates a systematic, repetitive, and organized practice of using unmanned aerial vehicles against civilians, rather than isolated episodes of hostilities.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office identified the most frequent types of attacks on civilians, which include the use of FPV drones against people in open areas, at public transport stops, near residential buildings, and close to infrastructure sites.
Russian forces also carry out secondary strikes on impact sites after emergency services arrive, and target minibuses, private cars, and other civilian transport with no military value.
Currently, 34 criminal proceedings are being investigated regarding attacks on emergency service workers during the liquidation of drone strike consequences. Of these, 9 cases involve attacks on employees of the State Emergency Service (DSNS) and 25 involve medical workers. These attacks have injured 20 DSNS employees and 52 medics, resulting in the deaths of three of them.
The situation is most indicative in the Kherson region. On the de-occupied territories of the region, law enforcement registered 5,303 criminal proceedings over attacks by drones of various modifications on civilian infrastructure.
These strikes killed 287 civilians, including children, and wounded 2,549 people, including 41 children. The city of Kherson alone accounts for 127 dead and 1,754 wounded, representing 44% of the total deaths and nearly 69% of all injuries from drone attacks in the region.
Previously, ASTRA repeatedly reported that since 2025, an active campaign has been underway in Russian universities and colleges to recruit students into the army through "special" one-year contracts, which supposedly imply service exclusively in unmanned systems units.
The Head of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Valery Falkov, stated that there are plans to send up to 2% of students to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In mid-March, the publication Groza calculated that recruitment campaigns to force students to sign contracts with the Russian army are active in almost 200 universities and colleges.
On May 20, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation began publishing videos featuring students who dropped out of their studies to sign contracts with drone units. A week prior, information emerged about the death of the first known Russian student recruited into the drone forces during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
When journalists and a photojournalist walked through the frontline city of Druzhkivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region, they observed thousands of civilians attempting to survive despite near-daily Russian drone attacks, FAB bomb strikes, and artillery fire.
While the group moved through the streets, a Russian FPV drone was shot down directly in front of them, and shortly before their arrival, another drone had struck and completely burned a civilian vehicle.
Local residents explained that they remained in the methodically targeted city because they lacked the money and opportunities to relocate, showing deep exhaustion from living under constant terror where the sound of drones had become a routine part of daily reality.
Discuss this article:
-ca7f535fb0363ef0ef0a1f48eafe1439.jpg "Russia Uses 695 Forms of Torture Against Ukrainian POWs, Including Sexual Violence")
