Drones could become weapons for criminals away from the front, - Vyhivskyi

Head of the National Police of Ukraine Ivan Vyhivskyi said there is a need for legislative regulation of the use of drones, since unmanned aerial vehicles have begun to be used not only in combat operations but also for criminal purposes.

He said this in Kyiv during the international conference “United for Justice. Accountability for Crimes Against the Civilian Population”.

According to Vyhivskyi, law enforcement agencies are recording a change in approaches to committing crimes using unmanned technologies.

“At the end of 2025 we recorded the first cases of drones being used not only as a tool of combat operations but also to commit particularly serious criminal offenses. This concerns, in particular, an attempted murder in the Lviv region and the preparation of a terrorist attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region“, – reported the head of the National Police.

Vyhivskyi emphasized that this indicates the emergence of a new threat – the use of drones in criminal circles outside the combat zone. According to him, countering such challenges requires not only operational and technical solutions, but also changes in legislation. The head of the National Police recalled that a draft law has already been developed that is intended to comprehensively regulate the sphere of drone use. The document, according to Vyhivskyi, was supported by a number of members of parliament. Its goal is to create a transparent and controlled system for the circulation of drones to minimize the risks of their use for criminal purposes. The law should clearly define who purchased a drone, who uses it, and how its use is controlled. The head of the National Police noted that the police count on the support of the Verkhovna Rada on this issue.

Separately Vyhivskyi drew attention to the risks after the end of the war. According to him, the state must take care of trained servicemen, since people with combat experience who do not get jobs and do not feel needed by society may become vulnerable to the criminal environment.

“After the war, those of our trained servicemen whom the state does not provide with work, who do not feel needed by society, may turn to crime”, – added Vyhivskyi.

Reminder, earlier we wrote:

• The treachery of the FSB: a Ukrainian was recruited on a dating site, and explosives were to be delivered by an FPV drone
• Hunt for those evacuating civilians: a Russian drone hit a police vehicle, there are fatalities
• Underage terrorists in the service of the Russian Federation: a terrorist attack in the Kyiv region
• Explosive device under the car’s underbody: in Odesa a man was injured during a terrorist attack, the perpetrator was detained within 24 hours

• Mines on the tracks and drones in the sky: “Ukrzaliznytsia” strengthens security