UN concerned about increasing Russian drone attacks in Ukraine

The United Nations says the Russian military is increasingly attacking Ukraine’s civilian population and energy infrastructure with drones.

Matthias Schmale, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, warned on Friday of a possible “tipping point” that could trigger new mass population movements.

Schmale said 3.6 million people have already been internally displaced in Ukraine. Some of them have been living in emergency shelters for two years or more.

He described the drone attacks as “psychological terror.” People have reported drones following them in the streets, and have described the fearful uncertainty of never knowing whether they are reconnaissance or attack drones.

The growing use of drones is impacting the civilian population ever more, Schmale said in Geneva. He wants to raise more donations to help people get through the upcoming winter months.

Sixty-five per cent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been partially damaged, a large proportion of it this year, Schmale said. With foreign support, the authorities are doing everything they can to repair as much as possible before winter, in a race against time.

It is particularly difficult to supply energy to people living in high-rise buildings, he said. Measures being set up include communal meeting points for them to warm up, take hot showers or get hot meals.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.

Russia’s Krasnodar see large-scale Ukrainian drone attack

Russia meanwhile said it repelled numerous Ukrainian drone attacks in the early hours of Friday.

The Ministry of Defence said that 51 drones were destroyed over the regions of Krasnodar and Belgorod, as well as over the Russian-annexed Crimea and the Sea of Azov.

Unconfirmed reports suggest one of the targets was the Krymsk military airfield in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, which is over 300 kilometres from the Russian-Ukrainian front line.

The region’s governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on his Telegram channel that there had been “a massive drone attack,” adding that there had been no casualties.

However, three civilians and three soldiers were injured in attacks in the border region of Belgorod, the local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote on Telegram.

During the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has been going on for more than two and a half years, Ukrainian has repeatedly carried out counterattacks on Russian territory.

Kiev’s aim is to destroy Russian supply routes and military infrastructure.