On June 13, Russian forces conducted over 20 drone and aerial bomb attacks across three districts in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine, according to regional military administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.
The attacks primarily targeted the Vasylkivska, Mykolaivska, Petropavlivska, and Shakhtarska communities in the Synelnykove district. Significant damage was reported to both residential buildings and vehicles, with a local market also catching fire. Nine individuals were injured, six of whom required hospitalization, including a 40-year-old man in critical condition.
In the Nikopol district, communities such as Nikopol, Chervonohryhorivka, Marhanets, and Myrivka also suffered damage, with private homes and agricultural structures impacted. Hanzha noted that infrastructure in Kamyansky was also targeted.
Ukrainian officials have classified these strikes as war crimes, asserting that they are deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure. International organizations echo this sentiment, emphasizing the systematic nature of these assaults.
Attacks on essential services and healthcare facilities aim to deprive civilians of electricity, heating, water supply, communication, and medical assistance, which some legal experts and human rights advocates interpret as genocidal actions. They cite a range of behaviors that could qualify as genocide under international law, including public calls for the destruction of Ukrainians and systematic targeting of those with pro-Ukrainian sentiments.
The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide obligates signatory states—currently numbering 149—to prevent and punish acts of genocide during both wartime and peacetime.
The Convention defines genocide as actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Indicators of genocide include the killing of group members, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy a group, and public incitement to commit such acts.
In response to these allegations, Russian leadership has denied that its military is intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure or causing civilian casualties, asserting that their operations are directed solely at military objectives.
Recent drone attacks in Dnipropetrovsk by Russian forces have resulted in injuries and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian authorities classify these actions as war crimes, citing systematic assaults on essential services as indicative of genocidal intent.