Russian drone hunted down Ukrainian street vendor
Ukraine's foreign minister accused Russia of a war crime after a harrowing video emerged of a drone attack on a civilian in Kherson.
Ukraine's foreign minister accused Russia of a war crime after a harrowing video emerged of a drone attack on a civilian in Kherson.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Tuesday strongly condemned Russia for committing a war crime, following the release of a video showing a Russian drone systematically pursuing and ultimately injuring a street vendor in the southern city of Kherson. The footage was also shared on social media by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who described the attack as a Russian "safari" on civilians.
The video, whose authenticity was confirmed by Reuters through geolocation based on buildings and road layouts, shows a drone chasing a man trying to hide behind a van that serves as his stall. The drone eventually explodes as the victim hides behind the vehicle. According to local police, the vendor, a man in his fifties, survived the attack but sustained a concussion, trauma, and multiple shrapnel injuries.
The BBC identified the victim as 52-year-old Yurii, a street vegetable vendor. Speaking from his hospital bed, Yurii described the terrifying moments. "It could see I had laid out tomatoes, a few cucumbers, and eggplants on the ground," he recounted. "It even dove under the umbrella while I ran to the other side." Yurii said he waved heads of garlic at the drone's camera, trying to show it wasn't filming him, but the drone still came at him and detonated.
Minister Sybiha wrote on his Telegram channel that the drone operator was fully aware he was targeting a civilian, calling him a "sadist." "This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never come to light," he said. At the same time, he called on Western allies to provide a "strong defense and deterrence package for Ukraine and reliable, guaranteed security."
President Zelensky, in sharing the video, stressed that the world must see every piece of evidence that Russia has "gone mad" and that its soldiers take pleasure in killing and torturing people. BBC Verify geolocated the footage to a market in the Tavriiskyi district of northern Kherson.
Such attacks, known as "human safaris," are a systematic tactic to terrorize populations near the front line. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine released alarming data in July. In the first six months of 2026, it documented 1,396 civilian deaths and 7,978 injuries, a 37 percent increase compared to 2025 and more than double the figures recorded in 2024. The UN attributes the rise in civilian casualties primarily to intensified Russian long-range missile and drone strikes on urban centers far from the front line.
The UN also condemned the practice of publishing such footage, stating that "releasing videos showing civilians being killed and injured constitutes a war crime of violating personal dignity."
The conflict continues at high intensity on both sides. On Tuesday alone, at least 13 people were killed in mutual attacks between Russia and Ukraine, including three children, with around forty others injured. In overnight Russian strikes on the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, two children and an elderly woman were killed, confirmed regional governor Oleh Hrihorov. Meanwhile, Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of terrorism after a drone attack on the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik killed seven people, including three children, and injured 60 others. Moscow described the act as a "deliberate attack on civilians." Both Russia and Ukraine consistently deny intentionally targeting civilians in the war that has been ongoing since February 2022.
