Putin claims Russia prioritizes civilian safety as advances stall, despite years of atrocities – ISW

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to justify the slow pace of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine by claiming that the safety of Russian forces and civilians is a top priority, the Institute for the Study of War reports. 

Putin’s rhetoric frames Russia’s slow advances as a moral choice, but evidence from Ukrainian territory points to a strategy defined by brutality rather than restraint.

In recent statements, Putin said Russian troops will not be working toward fixed deadlines, emphasizing that they should allow Ukrainian forces to surrender safely and treat defeated enemies “with mercy.”

However, the ISW said these claims are contradicted by extensive evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. 

The ISW highlighted deliberate attacks on civilians, including first-person view drone strikes in Kherson Oblast since late 2023, and recent killings in Pokrovsk and Zvanivka, Bakhmutsky Raion. 

By spring 2025, Kherson residents reported up to 100 drone attacks daily, describing how Russian forces use FPV drones to hunt individuals in so-called “human safaris.” The UN Commission found that civilian casualties from explosive weapons rose by 40% in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the previous year, with drone strikes representing a growing share.

These attacks intensified throughout 2024-2025 as drones transformed from surveillance units into lethal weapons systems pursuing human targets, with Russian forces also deliberately striking ambulances and emergency responders.

The institute also cited evidence of repeated executions of surrendering Ukrainian prisoners of war and concluded that Russian battlefield commanders are complicit in, and in some cases explicitly order, extreme abuses, including summary executions.

Despite extensive documentation of war crimes, accountability remains virtually nonexistent. Only two Russians have been convicted for 273 Ukrainian POW executions, with half occurring in 2025 as systematic killings escalate. 

Russian military units implicated in war crimes have received official honors from Putin, while UN monitoring found that 95% of released Ukrainian POWs experienced systematic torture, including beatings, suffocation, mock executions, electric shocks, and sexual abuse in Russian detention.