On the night of May 13, Russian troops massively deployed 139 strike drones to attack the territory of Ukraine. This was reported by the Air Force Command on Wednesday morning.
This is reported by Finway
Massive drone attack and air defense operations
According to military information, the strikes were carried out by drones of the types “Shahed,” “Gerbera,” “Italmas,” and special imitators. Launches occurred from various directions: Kursk and Bryansk regions of the Russian Federation, Milleryov, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and Cape Chauda in temporarily occupied Crimea.
Ukrainian air defense forces managed to destroy or suppress 111 Russian drones of various types in the north, south, and east of the country.
“20 strike UAVs were recorded hitting 13 locations, as well as debris falling in 4 locations,” the report states.
The Air Force Command warns that dozens of enemy drones still remain in the airspace of Ukraine and urges citizens to strictly adhere to safety rules.
Systematic attacks and signs of genocide
Russian military forces repeatedly use various types of weapons — strike drones, missiles, aerial bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems — to attack Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure across the country.
Ukrainian authorities and international organizations classify such strikes as war crimes of the Russian Federation, emphasizing their targeted nature. In particular, shelling of critical infrastructure, healthcare facilities, damage to electricity and water supply, communication, and medical assistance exhibits signs of genocidal actions.
During the full-scale war, Russia commits all types of crimes against the citizens of Ukraine, which, according to legal experts, genocide researchers, and human rights defenders, may fall under the definition of genocide. This includes:
- Declarations of intent to destroy Ukrainians, public calls for this, and denial of the existence of the Ukrainian nation;
- Targeted shelling of critical infrastructure;
- Persecution and elimination of pro-Ukrainian individuals in occupied territories;
- Destruction of the intelligentsia and carriers of Ukrainian culture;
- Implementation of programs in educational institutions of occupied territories to change children’s identities;
- Deportation of children to Russia for the purpose of assimilation;
- Destruction of Ukrainian books, theft of historical artifacts.
The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted in 1948 and ratified by 149 countries, obliges states to prevent acts of genocide and punish them both during wartime and in peacetime. The definition of genocide encompasses actions intended to fully or partially destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, including through killings, causing serious bodily harm, creating conditions for destruction, preventing childbirth, or forcibly transferring children between groups.
The Russian authorities continue to deny strikes on civilian objects, but facts of massive attacks and testimonies from the scenes confirm otherwise.