For most of Russia’s years-long war against Ukraine, Russian civilians have been relatively insulated from Kyiv’s attacks. Since July, Kyiv has broadened its long-range drone campaign beyond conventional military targets, intensifying strikes on Russia’s oil and gas industry and hitting the vast warehouses of Wildberries, Russia’s answer to Amazon. While these are primarily intended to cause economic damage, in the words of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “to bring the war back home – to Russia,” they also mark another important shift.
Ukrainian authorities are increasingly seeing Russian civilian casualties as a price they are prepared to pay for taking the war deeper into enemy territory. The numbers help illustrate the change. In 2025, Ukrainian attacks inside Russia killed 253 civilians, according to the United Nations, which says it was not able to independently verify the numbers.
This year, in the month of July alone, Russian authorities reported that 79 civilians were killed and 601 injured, a marked increase in the casualty rate. Zelenskyy has said that Wildberries is a legitimate target because it has been “used by the aggressor to ensure the supply of sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment.” Russian soldiers supplement their equipment by purchasing items from Wildberries. Maryana Bezuhla, a Ukrainian lawmaker and one of the most outspoken critics of Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s military leadership, is unapologetic about the increased risk to civilians.
There is no indication that Ukraine is deliberately targeting civilians — even as Russia continues to hit apartment buildings, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure with ballistic missiles and drones. And yet, there is no indication that the rising civilian toll in Russia is causing Kyiv to reconsider its approach. The strike was a double-tap — that’s when second attack on a target is conducted around half-an-hour later and is designed to catch first responders, a tactic used frequently in northern Syria.
Since the war began, Russian officials have consistently denied their forces intentionally target civilians and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has instead accused Ukraine of deploying troops and heavy weapons close to civilian infrastructure. Russia has “a clear pattern” of targeting Kyiv and other urban centers with large civilian populations, Rosemary DiCarlo, the U.N. under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the U.N. Security Council in July.
The U.N. has verified that at least 16,874 Ukrainian civilians, including 820 children, have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale assault on the country in 2022. Ukrainians believe the toll is likely higher, arguing there are many unrecorded deaths near the front lines and on territory occupied by Russian forces. DiCarlo also expressed concerns about Ukraine’s drone attacks.
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