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 verified848 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.
Voice of Ukraine 