11,000 people lived in the Ukrainian city of Berislav, but the devastating waves of attacks with Russian drones meanwhile reducing it to rubble. DV's investigations indicate that mostly civilians are targeted.
On February 7, Volodymyr Kindrat and his wife Lyubov listened to the eerie noise of drones for hours. Until two drones loaded with explosives attack their house in Ukraine. "I saw how the drones hit the garage," says Volodymyr. "It was as if the soldiers were playing a computer game," adds Lyubov. Their house was badly damaged in the attack.
After this shock, Volodymyr, Lyubov and their children flee from their native Berislav. In the period September 2023 - July 2024, according to Ukrainian data, the city fell victim to more than 120 drone attacks, in which 16 people were killed and more than 130 were injured.
Russian soldiers systematically use drones against civilians
DV's investigative team has been collecting publicly available information and data on drone attacks for months. Two non-governmental organizations - Eyes-on-Russia-Project and Mnemonic - assist DV with data analysis.
Although our team was unable to investigate in the city itself due to limited access to it, data analysis and interviews with experts and eyewitnesses indicate that Russian soldiers are systematically using drones against the civilian population.
In February 2022, the Russian army occupied Berislav. In the fall, the Ukrainian army recaptured it. Meanwhile, large parts of the city, where 11,000 people once lived, have been destroyed. Berislav today is mainly inhabited by elderly people.
Employees of non-governmental organizations have also suffered
Yevhen, who prefers not to be named, was also attacked by a Russian drone. In January, an employee of the non-governmental organization World Central Kitchen was carrying food products to Berislav, but on the way his car was overtaken by a drone. "I don't know how long the drone was chasing me," he told DV. “I was very scared.“
Yevhen is not the only employee of an NGO attacked by a drone - in January, two employees of the Swiss organization HEKS were killed in an attack in Berislav. Four others were injured.
International law prohibits targeted strikes against civilians. Soldiers are required to distinguish between military and civilian targets. They must “take all possible measures to limit the damage to the civilian population as much as possible”, emphasizes British lawyer Wayne Jordash. “Drones are no exception.“
Three different army units are behind the attacks
Precision weapons like the FPV drones that Russia uses “severely limit the risk of accidental damage”, the lawyer who investigates war crimes stressed. When civilian targets are regularly hit by such weapons, “it can be much more strongly suggested that war crimes are involved”.
Based on the distance the drones can fly, as well as their trajectory, DV can locate where they exit towards Berislav – from the cities of Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka, which are located on the other side of the Dnieper River.
Several units of the Russian army are stationed there - among them the 10th Special Brigade, the 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade and the volunteer battalion BARS-33, named after the Soviet World War II hero Vasily Margelov. In Telegram, representatives of the 205th motorized rifle brigade admitted to numerous drone attacks in Berislav, mostly targeting vehicles. One drone pilot wrote that they “destroyed all” and that there were no civilians in the area. With this comment, he incriminates himself, commented Wayne Jordash, because he apparently “decides that “everyone is a legitimate military target”.
The Russian side refused to answer DV's questions
The volunteer battalion BARS-33 has been operating in the Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka region since the beginning of 2023. And when recruiting new soldiers, it officially announces that it is looking for drone pilots. In October 2023, the creator of the battalion, Vladimir Saldo, announced that BARS-33 had tested a new drone named “Veles“.
The “Veles“ drones are produced by the company “Aero Hit”. In June, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against them because the “Veles” were used by the Russian armed forces in Kherson against Ukrainian targets“.
Who exactly orders and executes the drone attacks against civilian infrastructure in Berislav and its surroundings cannot be confirmed unequivocally. Our investigation indicates that the three military units mentioned are likely to be responsible. DV turned to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, to the BARS-33 battalion and to the administrators of their Telegram channels for a position. But none of them answered.