While international attention focuses on the US-led effort to initiate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Moscow is dramatically escalating its aerial attacks on Ukrainian civilians. During the first 24 days of April, for example, UN officials verified 848 civilian casualties due to Russian bombardments, representing a 46 percent increase on the same period in 2024.
Russia’s aerial offensive is a daily feature of the war that aims to terrorize the civilian population and render large parts of Ukraine unlivable. The Kremlin hopes that by bombing cities and targeting civilian infrastructure, this will force millions of Ukrainians to flee the country, and will break the will to resist among remaining residents. Any future peace deal that ignores this reality and fails to hold Russia to account would erode international law and set a disastrous precedent for future armed conflicts.
For the past one and a half years, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School and the International Partnership for Human Rights have documented and analyzed Russia’s aerial attacks in Ukraine. This exhaustive research has led to the conclusion that Russia’s bombing campaign meets the definition for the crimes against humanity of persecution and extermination.
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For three consecutive winters, Russia has bombed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a bid to deprive the civilian population of access to heating and electricity at a time when the days are short and temperatures are typically well below freezing. These attacks have had a devastating impact on the Ukrainian power grid, with around half of Ukraine’s entire prewar energy generating capacity destroyed by summer 2024.
As well as targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure, Russia has also launched waves of drones and missiles at Ukrainian towns and cities on virtually every single day of the invasion, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. There have been a number of particularly deadly attacks in recent weeks, including a ballistic missile strike on a playground in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown, Kryvyi Rih, that killed 18 people including 9 children. On Palm Sunday one week before Easter, Russia launched a targeted strike on Sumy city center as civilians made their way to church, leaving 35 dead.
In addition to killing and injuring civilians, Russian aerial attacks also create untenable living conditions for the wider civilian population. They leave people traumatized and fuel intense feelings of insecurity, while disrupting access to heating, power, water, healthcare, and other essential resources for survival.
While estimating the true toll of these attacks is challenging, the number of displaced Ukrainians indicates the scale of the humanitarian crisis. According to UN data from February 2025, Russia’s invasion had forced 10.6 million people to relocate, with 6.9 million recorded as refugees living outside Ukraine. Meanwhile, around 12.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, including nearly 2 million children.
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The intent to target Ukrainians as a distinct group can be seen in the dehumanization of Ukrainians and genocidal language that appears on a daily basis in the Kremlin-controlled Russian media and in the statements of Russian officials. This could prove important in any future efforts to hold Russia accountable for the crimes against humanity of persecution and extermination.
The bombing of Ukrainian cities is part of a broader campaign against Ukraine’s civilian population that underscores the scale of the crimes allegedly being committed. In regions of Ukraine currently under Kremlin control, the Russian occupation authorities are reportedly enforcing brutal russification policies that aim to extinguish any trace of Ukrainian national identity or statehood. Thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia and subjected to anti-Ukrainian indoctrination. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in relation to this mass abductions.
Holding Russia legally accountable for the ongoing air offensive against Ukraine’s civilian population is particularly important as this form of total war looks set to make a return. Technological advances are transforming the modern battlefield to include entire countries and their civilian populations. Against this backdrop, Russia’s use of long-range drones and missiles across Ukraine is likely to be a taste of things to come.
To date, no international tribunal has held individual perpetrators responsible for international crimes resulting from unlawful aerial attacks. The International Criminal Court has taken an important initial step by issuing arrest warrants against four senior Russian officials for their roles in attacking Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure, but further measures are needed.
Failure to hold Russia accountable today will fuel tomorrow’s wars and embolden Putin’s fellow autocrats to embrace similar tactics against civilian populations. This must not be overlooked in the rush to reach some kind of compromise peace with the Kremlin to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. By focusing on accountability for Russia’s aerial attacks, the international community can set a meaningful precedent that could help protect civilians around the world for years to come.
Anastasiya Donets leads the Ukraine Legal Team at the International Partnership for Human Rights, an independent non-governmental organization. She was previously an assistant professor in the International Law Department at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv. Susan H. Farbstein is a clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School, where she directs the International Human Rights Clinic.
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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.
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Image: An explosion of a ballistic missile lights up the sky over the city during a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine. April 24, 2025. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo)