Russia Strikes Ukraine; UN Finds Drone War Crimes

Russia launched a massive missile-and-drone barrage that struck Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure, killing at least two people, wounding civilians including children, and cutting power to many consumers as Kyiv reported hundreds of incoming weapons and widespread damage. A UN independent commission concluded Russian forces systematically used small, short-range and FPV suicide drones to deliberately target civilians, civilian infrastructure and rescue crews across Kherson, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk, documenting more than 200 civilians killed and about 2,000 injured and finding attacks that in some cases amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The inquiry said coordinated FPV drones struck a UN convoy near Bilozerka on Oct. 14, damaging two clearly marked UN trucks and destroying much of their cargo, underscoring the escalating danger to humanitarian operations. In retaliation, Ukrainian intelligence and special-operations units, including “Ghost” drone teams, have carried out long-range strikes and drone raids that Kyiv says destroyed air-defense systems (including a Pantsir-S2), multiple radar sites, an S-300V launcher, landing boats and oil depots in Crimea and parts of the Donbas, though independent verification of many claims is limited. Analysts say evolving Ukrainian drone and networked-weapons tactics — highlighted by an earlier Ukrainian F-16 AMRAAM shootdown of a Russian Su-35 in June — are shifting the air war and degrading Russian defenses even as fighting and reported Russian advances around Pokrovsk continue. NATO-area tensions have also risen, with Polish MiG-29s intercepting a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane over the Baltic after it flew without an active transponder.