Video shows Russian drone hunting down a street vendor in Kherson in ‘human safari’ attack
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has released footage that appears to show a Russian drone chasing a civilian street vendor in the Kherson region before exploding. The foreign minister called the attack a barbaric war crime and part of a deliberate Russian strategy of intimidation.
Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a video on social media showing a drone chasing a man in southern Ukraine, describing it as another example of a Russian ‘safari’ attack against civilians.
The footage shows the unmanned aircraft pursuing a street vendor on a city street in the Kherson region. The man tries to get away, sheltering behind a white van as the drone hovers above him. Eventually the drone dives at him and detonates on impact, leaving him injured.
In a Telegram post, Zelensky said the world needed to see the footage and that it was evidence Russia had ‘gone mad’ and that its soldiers were enjoying killing and tormenting people.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the video a ‘barbaric war crime’ and said the so-called safaris were a ‘deliberate and systemic Russian strategy’. He said the operator of the drone knew very well that he was targeting a civilian, and that the attack was part of a campaign to intimidate civilians. He called for international condemnation.
The Kherson regional governor later posted a video of the victim – identified as Yuriy, a 52-year-old street vegetable seller – speaking from a hospital bed. Yuriy said he and his wife were arranging crates of vegetables next to his van when he heard a distinctive buzzing sound. After his wife ran away, the drone turned on him. He held up heads of garlic to the drone’s camera to show he was not trying to film it. He said the drone could see his tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants on the floor, and even ducked under an umbrella as he tried to run away. Still, the drone attacked and exploded. His doctor said Yuriy suffered a concussion, trauma and multiple shrapnel wounds. His van was destroyed.
BBC Verify geolocated the video to a market area beside a roundabout in the Tavriiskyi district of northern Kherson. It is unclear who filmed the attack or how, but the earliest public copy was posted by a pro-Ukrainian Instagram account on Tuesday morning.
Such ‘safari’ attacks have long been carried out by Russian troops in Kherson, which lies only a few miles from the front line. A 2025 UN report said Russian armed forces had ‘recurrently killed and injured civilians’ in the area by using drones. The drone footage is often shared online before the devices explode, allowing thousands to watch the victims’ final moments. The UN has said posting videos of civilians being killed or injured amounts to the war crime of outrages upon personal dignity.
