Russia’s UN envoy expresses concern over increasing use of combat drones

UNITED NATIONS, May 23. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned over the increasing uses of unmanned combat aerial vehicles during conflicts, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on Thursday.

"No doubt, terrorist activities must be quelled. By reasonable and proportional force," he said at the United Nations Security Council debates on issues of protecting civilians in armed conflicts.

"We are alarmed over the expanding practice of the use of unmanned combat aerial vehicles," he noted. "These devices are difficult to control, which leads to casualties among civilians, which we see, for instance, in Afghanistan."

Along with casualties among civilians, of serious concern is "psychological stress facing civilian population living under a permanent threat of devastating missile strikes," he added.