Testimony against yourself

In October 2025, the American Institute for the Study of War published a staggering figure. Since 2023, more than 2,800 civilians have died in attacks by Russian drones in the city of Kherson alone.

Unfortunately, Kherson and the Kherson region have become the most striking example of Russian drone terror tactics. The city is located only a few kilometers from the occupied territory. The banks of the Kherson region are divided by the Dnieper River, which has become a de facto demarcation line.

While the facts of systematic attacks on civilians have long ceased to shock anyone and are commonplace for the occupiers, a feature of the Kherson region is that, in many cases, the Russians themselves flaunt and brag about war crimes.

Journalist and human rights activist Serhii Okunev analyzed the resources of Russian propaganda and the official channels of the occupiers’ military units to make sure that the Russians do not even try to hide their own crimes.

“Safari” or training ground. How the Russians flaunt the daily murders of Kherson residents

Constant attacks by Russian UAVs on residents of the right-bank Kherson region became commonplace back in 2023, but the situation acquired truly shocking proportions in 2025. The general development of unmanned drones and the increase in their scale of production and use led to the fact that, in October 2025, Russians in the Kherson region launched more drones per week than they had in the fall of 2024 per month. The latest OVA data is more than 2,500 drones per 7 days, most of which are: FPV and drones “with reset”.

The surprising fact is that in the case of war crimes in Kherson, Russian propagandists and even official resources do not even try to hide their crimes. Thus, video footage of attacks on civilians is regularly published in Telegram channels. Only one such propaganda resource has literally hundreds of videos with attacks on civilian transport. It is indicative that the Russians do not even try to lie about “military targets” and hide attacks on civilians.

“Nothing personal, just another vehicle in the zone. Once again. Any vehicle in the zone is a legitimate target,” — the occupiers report through their resources.

The Russians refer to the larger area of the city of Kherson, including its historic center, as the “zone.” In their messages, the occupiers do not hide that they will destroy “any vehicle,” and call it a “legitimate target.” It is obvious that by all accounts, such actions are a war crime, and no “laws,” including even Russian quasi-law, allow such attacks.

However, the lack of transport does not guarantee safety. Russian channels have a lot of footage of attacks on ordinary residents, cyclists, and passersby. On August 26, a video was published showing an explosive device being dropped on a man walking his dog. The Russians again did not even try to pass him off as a soldier.

“No one is spared. Keep your snot to yourself,” — the occupiers’ resource reports.

In general, in addition to footage of direct strikes, the Russians constantly publish explanations for their actions. The central thesis of the Russians: during the Russian occupation, there were no such actions, and they will stop after the re-occupation of the right-bank Kherson region by Russian troops. Thus, the actions are directly aimed at terror, that is, violent actions against the civilian population with the aim of intimidation to prevent resistance in achieving their goal.

War against the State Emergency Service. How Ukrainian rescuers became one of the priority targets for the occupiers

In 2024 and 2025, the work of the State Emergency Service in places of enemy attacks became increasingly dangerous. The Russians meaningfully inflicted repeated strikes after the rescuers appeared at the locations. This practice is widespread in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, but in the Kherson region, it has turned into a real war against Ukrainian rescuers.

On September 28, the Russian occupiers published a statement:

“In the near future, if not ALREADY, a decision will be made to include the State Emergency Service as a priority target. Locations, parking lots, and service points will be destroyed. Personnel will be considered a potential threat.”

This so-called “warning” is not the beginning of the State Emergency Service’s terror, but a continuation of a systemic practice. The Russians publish dozens of videos with attacks on employees who extinguish fires in civilian buildings and on rescue vehicles. At the same time, they brag about their own achievements in addressing attacks on rescuers. There are also many reports of similar attacks from the media and the State Emergency Service itself.

It was previously reported that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Kherson region through the Russian aggression, 9 employees of the State Emergency Service were killed in the performance of their duties, and 49 rescuers were injured. These data were relevant as of 2024; the figure may increase.

In 2025 alone, one of the primary propaganda resources of the occupiers reported 15 times about attacks on the State Emergency Service or the preparation of such attacks.

“It is necessary to increase the number of remote mining with subsequent strikes on groups involved in the elimination of consequences, as well as the State Emergency Service. Previously, public utilities were on the “easy” list because they often worked on restoring civilian facilities. Now, like the State Emergency Service, they are a priority target and are subject to destruction.”

Direct war crime. International humanitarian law on attacks on rescuers

Despite the term “legitimate targets” invented by the occupiers in relation to the State Emergency Service employees, international humanitarian law testifies to war crimes by the Russians. Civil defence and humanitarian organisations providing assistance to the civilian population and not taking part in hostilities shall not be the target of attack. Additional Protocol I to the 1977 Geneva Conventions, one of the key instruments of international humanitarian law governing the rules and methods of warfare, defines which organisations are civil defence organisations.

Article 61: Civil defence means the performance of humanitarian tasks aimed at protecting the civilian population against dangers arising from hostilities or natural disasters and at assisting in the immediate aftermath of such disasters.

These tasks include 15 criteria, including fire prevention and extinguishing, rescue operations, medical, sanitary, evacuation, and other humanitarian operations.

Article 62: General protection

1. Civilian civil defence organisations and their personnel shall be respected and protected in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol, in particular this section. They shall have the right to carry out civil defence tasks assigned to them, except in cases of imperative military necessity.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to civilians who, although not members of civilian civil defence organisations, carry out civil defence tasks at the call of the competent authorities and under their control.

3. Article 52 of this Protocol shall apply to buildings and material used for civil defence purposes, as well as to shelters provided for the civilian population. Objects used for civil defence purposes may not be destroyed or used for purposes other than those for which they are intended, except by the Party to which they belong. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which defines what acts constitute war crimes, states that the intentional attacks on civilian objects, that is to say objects which are not military objectives, are a war crime: see Article 8(2)(b)(iii).

In 2011, the UN International Commission of Inquiry was established under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Syrian Arab Republic.

This Commission, in particular, conducted an investigation and found that the systematic attacks on firefighters and the White Helmets in Aleppo were a violation of IHL and a war crime. This was stated in the 2016 and 2018 reports. Russian strategic aviation actively participated in the attacks on these humanitarian organizations in Syria. These same forces have been attacking civilian objects and energy infrastructure in Ukraine since 2022.