The danger to civilians is increasing as drones transform Ukraine’s battlefield

“The battle space has become much deeper, wider and deadlier,” Paul Heslop, Chief Mine Action Advisor at United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine, told UN News in a recent interview.

In contrast to the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion, when opposing forces fought from relatively fixed lines of trenches, drones now monitor vast areas, quickly identifying movements and directing artillery fire or carrying explosive payloads themselves.

The result, Heslop said, was a battlefield where the chances of survival were much slimmer.

“Usually, in combat, about one in four victims is killed and three others are injured,” he explained. “What we are seeing in Ukraine now is that the ratio is being reversed, and about three out of four people involved in the war are being killed.”

New weapons, new risks

The widespread use of drones also changes the contamination left behind after an attack.

Rather than simply dropping bombs, drones are now increasingly delivering conventional weapons, including mortars, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades, with much greater precision.

Some submunitions scatter and explode on impact, while others explode after a while or remain hidden until someone unknowingly triggers them.

“People entering the area, if they were walking their dogs or going to school, would step on mines and their feet would explode,” Heslop said, describing one of the many dangers civilians face.

This evolving threat requires Ukraine’s bomb squad, emergency response teams, and humanitarian organizations to continually adapt as they encounter weapons systems unlike those seen at the start of the war.

International experts are working with Ukrainian authorities and organizations to develop new approaches to safely eliminate the explosion hazard.

Living under constant threat

For millions of Ukrainians living far from the front lines, drones have become an everyday feature.

Air raid sirens can disrupt children’s school activities, morning coffee runs or routine trips to the store, forcing people to seek shelter when needed. Even when attacks do not result in casualties, unexploded drones can leave homes and neighborhoods unsafe until a bomb squad arrives.

Despite constant threats, Heslop said the resilience of Ukrainian civilians was extraordinary.

“There are a lot of civilians who are constantly under attack… they’re sitting in a cafe trying to get a cup of coffee, or they’re picking up their kid from school, or the kid is at school and the air alert goes off, and they’re really dealing with it,” he said.

He recalled one incident where a drone hit an apartment building in the middle of the night but failed to explode. Emergency responders evacuated residents, safely defused the device, and allowed everyone to return to their homes within two hours.

“The level of resilience, the ability to go in and solve problems, I think is extraordinary,” he said.

After the battle

Looking ahead, Heslop said technologies being developed in Ukraine, including artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and robotics, could ultimately transform humanitarian demining worldwide.

“We need to realize that this is a fight we can win,” he said.

With better technology and data-driven decision making, humanitarian teams will be able to use limited resources more effectively, address explosive hazards more quickly, and help communities recover more quickly.