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in Ukrainian
Brief overview
The systematic use of guided aerial bombs for targeted attacks in Ukraine began in 2023, a year after the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation Armed Forces. These attacks have covered both the frontline and rear areas, resulting in massive destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure. Since March 2024, the Truth Hounds team has documented more than 950 such incidents, resulting in the deaths of more than 250 civilians and injuries to more than 1,300. There were 23 cases when the number of victims of one such strike exceeded 10 people. The actual number of crimes involving the use of guided aerial bombs by the Russian army is much higher, as Truth Hounds’ monitoring covers only a limited period.
The intensity of events at the front and the unpredictable development of hostilities forced the authors of the study to limit its timeframe to the period from the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine until 30 September 2024, with particular attention to the dynamics of aerial bombing strikes over the past six months. At the same time, the Truth Hounds’ monitoring team continues to monitor and document Russian air attacks on a daily basis, including those involving various types of aircraft bombs used by Russian tactical aviation.
The majority of guided aerial bomb attacks are conducted by Su-34 aircraft based at Russian airfields. The study revealed that approximately 70 of these aircraft were deployed by the Russian Aerospace Forces to strike Ukraine between 2023 and 2024. The Truth Hounds team concentrated on a comprehensive examination of these attacks, considering both the circumstances of the incidents and their evaluation from the standpoint of international humanitarian law (IHL). The investigators conducted an in-depth analysis of 30 satellite images, which led to the identification of 39 aircraft that were involved in the bombings.
The principal objective of the study is to examine the attacks with the usage of guided aerial bombs on populated areas of Ukraine, evaluate their legitimacy under international humanitarian law, and illustrate the rising incidence of war crimes and civilian casualties resulting from such actions. The objective is to illustrate the extent and severity of these attacks, thereby establishing a foundation for further international pressure on Russia to cease the utilisation of these tactics. Furthermore, the research aims to create the preconditions for bringing to individual responsibility those who directly carried out or ordered such attacks.
Truth Hounds investigators and documenters have thoroughly investigated a series of attacks on Kharkiv and Kherson and found that these attacks exhibit characteristics indicative of war crimes. A data analysis and interviews with witnesses revealed that the Russian military is actively using various types of guided aerial bombs with an error radius of exceeding 200 metres, which leads to significant destruction of civilian infrastructure and numerous human casualties. Truth Hounds’ lawyers argued that the use of such bombs in densely populated areas is a grave breach of international humanitarian law. These attacks contravene the principle of distinction between military and civilian objects, are indiscriminate and indicate an intent to terrorise the civilian population as the primary target.
An appendix to this investigation with a detailed description of the airfields used by the Russian Air Force in 2024 can be found here
NB
The investigation into the attacks with guided aerial bombs is presented in two versions. The public version is presented below. The version containing additional information on the identified Russian Air Force aircraft, their affiliation with specific units, and the methods used to establish this data has been passed to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. This decision was made in order not to impede the process of collecting evidence of the involvement of mentioned individuals in war crimes and the restoration of justice in general.
Methodology
The data used in this study was collected through interviews with witnesses and victims, an analysis of publicly available data, open-source investigations, and a review of international humanitarian and criminal law. To ensure a high-quality and consistent documentation process, the Truth Hounds team strictly adhered to the developed methodology, relying on the manual for documenting war crimes and the code of ethics for working with witnesses and victims. The manual contains a description of violations of IHL and international crimes as set out in the Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocols and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It also provides a description of the elements of war crimes, instructions on how to properly collect different types of evidence and conduct interviews with witnesses and victims. All interviews were conducted in compliance with the principle of «no harm» and with due regard for the traumas of the interviewees.
In order to obtain information from primary sources and record the immediate aftermath of the attacks at the site of the hits, Truth Hounds organised two field missions to Kherson and Kharkiv. During these missions, documenters conducted interviews with nine witnesses to the events and took photographs and videos of the destruction and damage. The data obtained constituted an important component of the investigation, contributing to the formation of a comprehensive and more reliable account of the attacks and their consequences, and added to the arguments in proving the illegality of such actions in the context of IHL.
In light of the study’s objective and the particulars of its design, the main basis of the organisation’s investigators’ work was open-source data. To obtain and analyse the data, a variety of tools were employed for the purposes of searching, identifying and verifying the information. In particular, the tactical and technical characteristics of the range of guided aerial bombs and aircraft in service with the Russian Armed Forces were analysed, as well as data on the movement of aviation units. In addition, satellite images from Planet, Maxar and Google Earth were used. This enabled the circumstances of the incidents to be established and confirmed, the type of weapons and their carriers to be determined, their likely locations to be geolocated, and the units that carried out the attacks to be identified. In addition, the personnel of the majority of aviation units involved in the use of guided aircraft against Ukraine were identified.
Conclusions and prospects for the investigation
This investigation provides detailed information on the number of Russian Su-34 aircrafts involved in hostilities against Ukraine, their bases and units responsible for bombing of the Ukrainian settlements. The data obtained will help identify specific pilots and commanders who carried out or gave orders for guided bomb attacks on civilian infrastructure. The study also confirms that Russia’s use of guided aerial bombs in the war against Ukraine is a systemic war crime that has led to large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure and numerous civilian casualties. The documented attacks, particularly in Kharkiv and Kherson, demonstrate a disregard for international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction and proportionality. The evidence collected points to targeted attacks on civilian objects that have no military significance, indicating Russia’s deliberate actions aimed at intimidation and terror.
The deliberate use of tactics of terrorising civilians is evidenced by the indiscriminate, large-scale and systematic nature of attacks on densely populated areas of Ukrainian cities and villages. Between March and October 2024 alone, the Russian army carried out 951 attacks on Ukrainian settlements with unguided aerial bombs, including 64 attacks on cities with thousands of inhabitants and dense civilian areas, such as Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy. According to international humanitarian law, such actions with the use of inaccurate weapons and their high intensity indicate a clear intention to sow fear and panic among the civilian population, undermine the morale of Ukrainians and create an atmosphere of constant threat, which together defines terror.
The study showed that up to 70 Su-34 fighter jets based at seven airfields, capable of conducting combat missions with high frequency and interchangeability, were involved in these attacks. The addition of a planning and correction module to the bomb itself has not only improved the accuracy of the strikes, but also made it possible to carry them out remotely, outside Ukrainian airspace, with minimal risk of being hit by air defence systems. With the ability to hit targets at a distance of up to 80 km, these modified munitions began to reach large cities that, before the active use of UPCMs, had remained outside the area of damage by aircraft bombs. The relative cheapness, ease of modification of projectiles into guided munitions, and the huge stockpiles of already produced aerial bombs allow the Russian army to use guided aerial bombs for strikes against Ukraine for a long time. The methods of warfare described in this report suggest that the number of indiscriminate attacks and civilian casualties will increase proportionately.
Despite the successful attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian military airfields, which resulted in the destruction of ammunition and damage to aircrafts, the intensity of strikes on Ukraine has not decreased. This suggests that these attacks did not have a significant impact on Russia’s strategic decision to use aviation as a means of terror.
The study contains a list of identified military aircraft, evidence of their affiliation with specific aviation units, and information on their presence at the airports on the days of the attacks or on dates close to them. This information can be used in further investigations to identify those responsible for the attacks, from pilots of bomb carriers and support aircraft who may be involved in the crime of aiding and abetting to commanders of units subject to the principle of command responsibility. The pattern of attacks with guided aerial bombs – their intensity, indiscriminate nature, duration and wide coverage of these incidents in the media and at the level of official statements by top state officials – indicates the methodical implementation of this tactic as part of a military operation approved at the highest level of command. Therefore, it is impossible to imagine that such decisions were not approved at the level of the General Command of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The Truth Hounds team is convinced that this material will form the basis for further investigations into war crimes related to the use of guided aerial bombs and Su-34 aircraft against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. The study contains important information for law enforcement agencies, international actors and civil society organisations, contributing to a deeper study of specific cases of the use of guided aerial bombs by Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft against Ukraine that have signs of war crimes.