Civilian dangers multiply as drones transform Ukraine's battlefield

Civilian dangers multiply as drones transform Ukraine's battlefield
As drones reshape the battlefield in Ukraine, they are also creating new and increasingly complex dangers for civilians, threatening recovery efforts, agriculture and global food security long after the fighting ends.
“The battlespace has become a lot deeper, a lot wider and a lot more lethal,” Paul Heslop, Chief Mine Action Adviser at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, told UN News in a recent interview.
Unlike the early stages of Russia's full-scale invasion, when opposing forces fought from relatively fixed trench lines, drones now monitor vast areas, quickly identifying movement and directing artillery fire or carrying explosive payloads themselves.
The result, Mr. Heslop said, is a battlefield where survival has become far less likely.
“Normally, in combat, about one out of every four casualties is killed and three are wounded,” he explained. “What we're seeing in Ukraine now is that ratio being reversed, and about three out of four people engaged on the battlefield are being killed.”
New weapons, new risks
The widespread use of drones is also transforming the contamination left behind after attacks.
Rather than simply dropping bombs, drones increasingly deliver conventional weapons, including mortar rounds, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades, with far greater precision.
Some scatter submunitions that explode on impact, while others detonate after a delay or remain hidden until someone unknowingly triggers them.
“The person who goes into the area, if they're walking a dog or going to school, steps on a mine and it blows their leg off,” Mr. Heslop said, describing one of the many hazards facing civilians.
These evolving threats require Ukrainian bomb disposal teams, emergency responders and humanitarian organizations, to adapt constantly as they confront weapon systems unlike those seen earlier in the war.
International experts are working alongside Ukrainian authorities and organizations to develop new approaches to safely clear explosive hazards.
Life under constant threat
For millions of Ukrainians living far from the frontline, drones have become a constant feature of daily life.
Air raid sirens can interrupt a child's school day, a morning coffee or a routine trip to the shops, forcing people to seek shelter at a moment's notice. Even when attacks cause no casualties, unexploded drones can leave homes and neighbourhoods unsafe until bomb disposal teams arrive.
Despite the relentless threat, Mr. Heslop said the resilience of Ukrainian civilians has been remarkable.
“You have a large civilian population that is constantly under attack...they're sat in a café trying to have a coffee, or they're picking their child up from school, or the child is at school and the air alert goes off, and they very matter of factly deal with it,” he said.
He recalled one incident in which a drone struck 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.
“That level of resilience, that ability to go in and solve a problem, I think is incredible,” he said.
After the battle
Looking ahead, Mr. Heslop said technologies being developed in Ukraine, including artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and robotics, could ultimately transform humanitarian demining around the world.
“We need to be aware this is a battle that we can win,” he said.
With better technology and data-driven decision-making, humanitarian teams will be able to use limited resources more effectively, clear explosive hazards faster and help communities recover more quickly.