A video released by the National Police of Ukraine shows how a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone deliberately chased an unarmed street vendor in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine, before exploding. The man survived the attack, although he was injured by shrapnel.
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The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, shared the video yesterday in a message on X stating that this is another example of the so-called “human safaris,” an alleged Russian state terrorism campaign waged against the civilian population. Zelensky said that enemy forces had admitted the crime, “without showing the slightest remorse and openly boasting about tormenting people.”
Russian soldiers take pleasure in killing and mistreating civilians”
Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine
The victim of the attack, identified by several sources as Yuriy, 52, was setting up his stall alongside his wife when the drone began to fly over the area. In a video published by the regional governor of Kherson, Yuriy recounted that the drone had the opportunity to verify that he was a simple street vendor. “It could see that I had tomatoes outside, as well as cucumbers and eggplants,” he said.
Zelensky stated on X that this attack is another example of how Moscow “has gone mad,” and said that Russian soldiers feel “pleasure in killing and mistreating civilians.” Furthermore, the president urged the international community to “act and support life in such a way that forces Russia to seriously consider peace, instead of expanding the reach of its drones.”
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According to the BBC, the market where the attack occurred is located in the Tavrisk district, in the northern part of the city of Kherson, an area under constant attack due to its proximity to occupied territory and the limitations of Ukrainian air defenses. The local police say that Russian forces have been using drones in “safari-type attacks” against civilians, vehicles, public transport, and emergency personnel in Kherson almost daily.
A “war crime” to intimidate the civilian population
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, described the attack as a “barbaric war crime.” Sybiha also stated that the episode is part of a deliberate and systematic Russian campaign to intimidate the civilian population, adding that “the sadist operating the drone” knew perfectly well that he was attacking a civilian.
More than 16,000 civilians have died in Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022, according to the United Nations’ most recent casualty report released last month. The vast majority of deaths have occurred in areas under Ukrainian government control, and the number of victims has steadily increased each year.
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