Video of fruit seller Yuri fleeing from a drone is just the latest example of routine terror. UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission data for 2025 shows a dramatic increase in civilian deaths, with analysts warning of a systematic tactic of training on live targets.
The video showing fruit seller Yuri desperately fleeing from a Russian drone in Kherson has gone viral, but for Ukrainian civilians, this is, unfortunately, a daily reality. The footage reveals a practice that Russian forces themselves have cynically dubbed "human safari" on their Telegram channels, the systematic harassment and killing of civilians using short-range drones, particularly FPV aircraft.
In the harrowing footage, a quadcopter can be seen approaching Yuri's fruit stand. He first gestures, trying to convey to the operator that he is a civilian and shows his goods, then attempts to flee as the aircraft moves toward him. The terrifying whine of the approaching drone often paralyzes victims. The Russian pilot eventually maneuvers to "catch" him, but fails to score a direct hit, Yuri is wounded in the legs.
This is just the latest in a series of documented testimonies. Russian soldiers and supporters daily post footage of attacks on Ukrainian civilians on their own Telegram groups, often accompanied by mocking comments and celebratory emojis. Ironically, these posts themselves constitute irrefutable evidence of war crimes. "Russia does not attack civilians" is the cynical statement that Vladimir Putin's regime uses as a universal response to repeated missile attacks on Kyiv, the bombing of Kharkiv, or long-range drone strikes on Lviv.
The city of Kherson, the only regional capital that Russia managed to capture in the first days of the invasion and then lost in the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023, lies just a few kilometers from Russian positions on the other side of the Dnipro River. This proximity makes it an ideal proving ground for such attacks. The Russian bank of the Dnipro serves as a safe launch base for drones, with minimal risk to operators.
According to analyses by Ukrainian researchers and the organization Frontelligence Insight, FPV drone attacks in Kherson show significantly lower precision than on other parts of the frontline. Attack patterns, including prolonged chases and piloting errors, suggest that less experienced operators are undergoing training on civilians before heading to the actual front. This practice is not limited to Kherson but is also common in other frontline areas such as Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv.
This strategy of terror is not confined to Kherson. Witold Stupnicki, senior analyst for Europe and Central Asia at ACLED, after visiting Nikopol, a city suffering similar attacks from the other side of the Dnipro, told El Mundo: "What we see in the Nikopol district is a 'human safari' tactic reaching a new level of lethality. These attacks are part of systematic Russian tactics of deliberately using FPV drones to locate and attack civilians. Drone units trained to attack military supply routes behind enemy lines are instead being used against buses, markets, and ambulances."
The data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission is devastating. Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, warns: "Short-range drones now pose one of the deadliest threats to civilians in frontline areas. In January 2025, these devices killed and injured more civilians than any other weapon, striking people in their cars, buses, and on the streets."
This tactic has made 2025 the deadliest year for Ukrainian civilians since the start of the full-scale invasion. The UN Human Rights Mission verified 2,514 civilian deaths and 12,142 injuries during 2025. This represents a 31% increase compared to 2024, when 2,088 deaths and 9,138 injuries were recorded, and an alarming 70% increase compared to 2023, when 1,974 were killed and 6,651 injured. The trend in 2026 continues in the same upward direction.
A similar situation exists in Zaporizhzhia, where Russian FPV drones from the south of the city attack groups of civilians, vehicles, and public transport. On the worst days, several per month, up to ten drones may attack civilians, targeting city buses and causing death and injury.
