About this project
This database is intended to provide a global-scale sampling of open-source accounts of targeted attacks on civilians by (primarily) small drone platforms.
As an individual researcher, it is far outside of my scope or capacity to attempt to catalog every single example of these attacks around the world. My goal is instead to use this resource to communicate to the world that these attacks are 1. Increasing at a disturbingly rapid rate and 2. Are occurring in more places and contexts than many may be aware of.
My focus is on targeted attacks on civilians from two categories of short-range drone: small consumer drones, and hobby-built drones - which are often but not always used as ‘kamikaze’ or ‘suicide’ one-way attack drones. These drones are also often referred to as Improvised Combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (ICUAVs).
In some cases, I will include attacks here that appear to have been conducted by relatively inexpensive medium-altitude long-range (MALE) fixed wing drone platforms, especially if such attacks appear to be 1) novel in the way in which they are conducted or the location in which they take place (as is the case for the conflict in Sudan) and/or 2) appear to have occurred in coordination with smaller consumer and “DIY” drone platforms. However, attacks on civilian targets with these medium-range fixed wing platforms are not my primary focus for this project.
Much more work needs to be done on investigating these incidents and bringing perpetrators, when such are identified, to justice. It is my hope that this map can inspire others to join in on this crucially important task.
A more detailed explanation of this project and my reasons for creating it is available on my Ghost newsletter.
I make no legal, authoritative, or fully validated claims about the attacks and incidents included here.
I am only drawing from and linking to open-source information that appears associated with the specific conflict trend of targeted small drone attacks on clear civilian targets.
For each incident, I evaluate source materials and conduct a basic initial "sniff test" for credibility. However, I have not personally analyzed or validated the vast majority of the incidents collected here: the goal here is aggregation, not comprehensive validation.
I attempt to geolocate each incident as precisely as possible, but I make no claims about location accuracy. If you believe you've found an error, please let me know.
For this project, my bias leans towards shedding light on small drone attacks on civilians in lesser-known and less-reported upon conflicts (civil and international) whenever such information is available.
I am also biased towards including drone attacks on civilians that appear to include an unusual or novel element: I believe such incidents are important to highlight, due to the astonishingly rapid pace of evolution of drone warfare tactics.
I am further biased towards including incidents that feature attacks on humanitarian aid workers, health care workers, and clearly-marked buildings and vehicles associated with their work.
Ukraine is currently experiencing the largest amount of targeted attacks of civilians and aid workers with small drones in the world, at a massively greater rate than was the case in 2024. I would like to include all such attacks with small drones by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian civilians on this map, but this is beyond my current capacity as an individual. Currently, only a selected number of these attacks in Ukraine are included.
Please refer to the following sources for high-quality information on small drone attacks on civilians in Ukraine:
I am actively seeking partners who might be open to sharing their validated and geolocated data on small drone attack incidents on civilians in Ukraine (or anywhere else) with me, for inclusion on this map. Please get in touch with me if you would like to discuss further.
New updates to this map and to the resources collection are performed manually, when I have the time to do so.
My sources include news reports, organizational press releases, and social media posts. Articles, reports, and other documents that are not linked to a specific incident are collected on the Resources page.
Incidents and sources used for this map are initially logged in a Google Sheets database, which can be viewed here.
Source materials are backed-up and archived with a modified version of Bellingcat's Auto Archiver software.
I'm Faine Greenwood, an expert on small drone technology and its uses around the world, with a particular focus on how these revolutionary tools and the data that they collect are altering both peaceful pursuits and war. Since 2013, I have worked as a drone technology analyst, researcher, and GIS and data specialist with New America, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the University of Vermont, the World Bank, and WeRobotics, among other organizations. I am the owner of Tarentum Consulting LLC, a small consulting firm focused on civilian uses of drone technology, drone counterterrrorism, and analyzing attacks on noncombatants and aid workers with small drones around the world.
This map is not intended to be a comprehensive or complete summary of targeted drone attacks on civilians, and these incidents have not been fully validated or investigated. It is intended to provide an overview of a growing global problem.