This is the 3013th most frequent Russian word.
жертвами
"Victims" or "sacrifices" (instrumental plural of "жертва").
The word 'жертвами' refers to 'victims' in the instrumental plural, indicating those experiencing the fraud.
Многие люди становятся жертвами мошенников.
Many people fall victims to fraudsters.
'Жертвами' here describes the affected entities, the trees, indicating they were harmed by the circumstances.
В результате шторма деревья стали жертвами непогоды.
As a result of the storm, the trees became victims of the bad weather.
The term 'жертвами' indicates a metaphorical sense of falling prey to something, in this case, ambitions.