Reports

Since the summer of 2024, Russian forces have increasingly armed quadcopter drones and used them to chase, injure, and kill residents living in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.

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  • June 3, 2025

    Russia’s Use of Drones to Attack Civilians in Kherson, Ukraine

    The 93-page report, “Hunted From Above: Russia’s Use of Drones to Attack Civilians in Kherson, Ukraine” and an accompanying web feature, document how Russian forces appear to be deliberately or recklessly carrying out drone strikes against civilians and civilian objects with these mostly inexpensive commercially available drones. The attacks spread terror among the civilian population and cause them to fear leaving their homes, and have caused the depopulation of the two areas being targeted in Kherson.

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  • June 20, 2024

    Forced Russification of the School System in Occupied Ukrainian Territories

    The 63-page report “Education under Occupation: Forced Russification of the School System in Occupied Ukrainian Territories,” documents violations of international law by the Russian authorities in relation to the right to education in formerly occupied areas of Ukraine’s Kharkivska region, and other regions that remain under Russian occupation. Russian authorities have forced changes to the curriculum and retaliated against school staff who refused to make such changes with threats, detention, and even torture. Human Rights Watch also found that occupying authorities threatened parents whose children were learning the Ukrainian curriculum online.

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  • April 18, 2024

    Explosive Weapons’ Effects in Armed Conflict and Measures to Strengthen Protection

    The 80-page report, “Destroying Cultural Heritage: Explosive Weapons’ Effects in Armed Conflict and Measures to Improve Protection,” details both the immediate and long-term harm from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on cultural heritage, such as historic buildings and houses of worship, museums and archives, public squares, and performance centers. It shows that the Declaration on explosive weapons could serve as a valuable tool for addressing the problem.
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  • November 9, 2023

    Attacks on Schools and Military Use of Schools in Ukraine

    The 71-page report, “Tanks on the Playground,” documents the damage and destruction of schools and kindergartens in four Ukrainian regions during the first months of the fighting. Most of the damage to educational facilities resulted from aerial attacks, artillery shelling, rocket strikes, and, in some cases, attacks using cluster munitions – causing significant damage to roofs, the collapse of walls, and major debris in classrooms. Russian forces frequently looted and pillaged schools they occupied, a war crime.

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  • March 22, 2023 Interactive
    Russian forces used a large air-delivered munition on an apartment building on March 9, 2022, in Izium, eastern Ukraine, in an attack that killed at least 44 civilians and violated the laws of war. This new web report uses survivor testimony, photos, videos, and 3D modeling of the building at 2 Pershotravneva Street to show the devastating effects of the attack.
    Mykhailo Yatsentiuk in the ruins of the building at 2 Pershotravneva Street in Izium, his former home, in December 2022
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  • February 21, 2023 Interactive
    Russian forces deployed the type of missile system used in the attack on Kramatorsk train station that killed at least 58 civilians fleeing fighting in eastern Ukraine in April 2022, an investigation by Human Rights Watch and SITU Research reveals. The attack is a serious violation of the laws of war and an apparent war crime.
    Crowd at the train station in Kramatorsk
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  • September 1, 2022

    “Filtration” and the Crime of Forcibly Transferring Ukrainian Civilians to Russia

    The 71-page report, “‘We Had No Choice’: ‘Filtration’ and the War Crime of Forcibly Transferring Ukrainian Civilians to Russia,” documents the transfers of Ukrainian civilians. The transfers are a serious violation of the laws of war that constitute war crimes and potential crimes against humanity. Russian and Russian-affiliated authorities also subjected thousands of Ukrainian citizens to a form of compulsory, punitive, and abusive security screening called “filtration.”

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  • May 11, 2022

    Cluster Munition Attacks in Ukraine

    The 20-page report, “Intense and Lasting Harm: Cluster Munition Attacks in Ukraine,” details how Russian armed forces have used at least six types of cluster munitions in the international armed conflict in Ukraine.

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