Vladimir Putin is targeting Ukrainian civilians in a surge of barbaric attacks across the country despite Donald Trump claiming that Russia is acting “fine” in the war, reports BritPanorama.
New figures released by the UN this week show the number of Ukrainian civilian casualties in September rose by 85 per cent compared with the year before.
First-person drones, long-range glide bombs, ballistic rockets, and new jet-powered Shahed cruise missiles are being used in the attacks as winter closes in. No one is off limits: children, babies, mothers in the park, elderly fruit vendors.
From Kherson to Kharkiv, Kyiv to Kramatorsk, “hunting drone safaris” picking off ordinary people are taking the war far beyond the front lines. Of the 328 people killed and 2,105 injured last month, 53 per cent of casualties were caused by missiles and long-range drones while 23 per cent were attributed to short-range drones.
This data undermines President Trump’s recent assertion that Russia is acting “fine” in Ukraine. It contradicts his special envoy Steve Witkoff’s claim that Putin is a “humanitarian” amid the ongoing conflict, which has now lasted longer than the First World War.
The UN figures show a 32 per cent increase in civilian deaths and a 65 per cent rise in injuries from January to September 2026, compared to the same timeframe last year.
The murder and maiming of ordinary people in the deeply personal “hunting drone” killings was once confined to frontline cities such as Kherson, where Russian pilots use headsets to guide small airborne weapons onto women, the elderly, and anyone caught in the open.
Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, is now fair game. The towns of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, known as fortress cities, have also come under fire as they are Ukrainian redoubts close to the front lines.
In Kherson, deputy leader of the local administration Oleksandr Tolokonnikov describes an existence that is becoming commonplace for many Ukrainians. “People are constantly listening to the sounds around them. If they hear a buzzing sound, they understand that a drone may be nearby and try to find shelter as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Another habit is constantly watching where you step. Russians are remotely dropping mines, so even a normal walk along the street can be dangerous. These are the habits people have developed to survive in our city,” he added.
On the same day Mr. Trump proclaimed Russia to be “not doing that much” in Ukraine, at least 10 people, including a baby, her mother, and an 11-year-old girl, were killed near Kharkiv in a Russian attack. The week prior, 22 people were killed by missiles targeting their homes in Chernihiv, north of Kyiv.
In Kramatorsk, Russian glide bombs, which contain target guidance systems, resulted in 33 fatalities among two buses. Additionally, 23 people were killed when five bombs struck blocks of flats in Zaporizhzhia.
In Kyiv, Oleksandr Merezkho, chair of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, described a troubling increase in direct hits to apartment buildings near his residence. “Life in Kyiv and other cities is getting harder because we have air raids non-stop,” he said. “There are constant sounds of explosions, power cuts and sometimes water disappears.”
Cities in the far west of Ukraine, previously deemed safer from Russian attacks, are now increasingly targeted, with six people killed in a market in Lutsk earlier this month.
Ukraine’s ability to defend its airspace has been hamstrung by a shortage of US-made Patriot missiles and other similar systems. Compounding challenges, US sanctions against Russia have been eased due to a diesel supply deal with the Kremlin, as well as the relaxation of certain financial restrictions.
Most critically, a limitation on the speed at which a Starlink terminal can move has affected Ukrainian anti-missile systems. Starlink terminals must operate at over 300 km/h to intercept incoming Shahed jet missiles, but they are now restricted to 160 km/h.
A senior source on the front lines disclosed that up to 60 per cent of offense-capable shorter-range drones have been rendered inoperable due to US restrictions on Ukraine’s weapons systems. Trump insists connectivity has been restored, but reports from the ground tell a different story.
Amid the ongoing violence, Ukraine’s President Zelensky issued a stark warning following the use of cluster bombs against Kyiv’s historic centre. “Our intelligence services report that Russia has set priorities for further terror against Ukrainians in the coming weeks. Russia is clearly taking advantage of the slowdown in air defence supplies from our partners,” he stated.
“When some partners ease the pressure on Russia, it only reinforces Putin’s belief that his goals are within reach. We need different signals and different steps, stronger ones,” he concluded.
As tensions continue to mount, the reliance on Europe and the UK for stronger support becomes increasingly apparent.
