A Russian kamikaze drone, described by commentators as part of a “human safari” tactic, was used to terrorise a Ukrainian civilian who narrowly survived the attack.
Footage recorded at a market in Kherson, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday morning showed an FPV drone operator repeatedly chasing the food seller before launching the strike.
The 52-year-old man can be seen sprinting around his van, desperately trying to use the vehicle as cover while the drone tracks him from above.
The piercing buzz of the drone shattered the calm of the outdoor market, where traders had already begun setting up stall coverings, arranging boxes of produce and unloading vehicles.
After circling and pursuing the civilian around the van several times, the drone suddenly dropped towards the ground and detonated in a powerful explosion.
Although the Russian weapon appeared to head straight for the market vendor, Ukrainian authorities said he survived the blast.
Officials said he sustained blast trauma, shrapnel injuries and a concussion, but is expected to make a recovery.
Observers said the incident was the latest example of Moscow’s so-called “human safari” drone attacks, a campaign they say is designed to target civilians and spread fear among Ukraine’s population.
Video footage filmed at a market in Kherson, south Ukraine, showed an FPV drone pilot relentlessly pursuing the innocent food seller before going in for the kill
The man, 52, is seen running around his van and attempting to hide behind it as the drone circles overhead
Attacks overnight into Tuesday also killed two children and a pensioner in Ukraine’s north-east.
‘Two children and an elderly woman were killed in Russian [guided aerial bomb] strikes on Sumy tonight,’ Oleg Grygorov, the head of the regional military administration, said this morning.
‘The girls were 5 and 10 years old. The children’s bodies were recovered from under the rubble of their house.’
It comes after weeks of Russia and Ukraine trading strikes, with President Zelensky’s forces increasingly focussing on civilian infrastructure including large warehouses.
In the wake of the attack, pictures show the van appears completely written off, with the front-right of the vehicle completely destroyed.
The National Police of Ukraine said: ‘This is how the Russians wage war. They deliberately target civilians.
‘The man in the video shows no signs of being a combatant. He is simply selling goods at a market. Yet, for the military of the aggressor state, he is still a target.
‘Fortunately, the 52-year-old resident of Mykolaiv Region survived.
After chasing the man round the van several times, the drone then dropped suddenly towards the ground as it went in for the kill
Miraculously the man survived the attack, despite the huge explosion seen at the market
Images taken after the attack show the damage to the man’s van – he sustained blast injuries, shrapnel wounds and a concussion
‘He sustained blast injuries, shrapnel wounds and concussion. Doctors are providing him with the necessary medical care.
‘Law enforcement officers are taking steps to properly document yet another alleged war crime committed by the armed forces of the aggressor state.’
Police also reminded Ukrainians not to film drones, but to prioritise seeking shelter instead if they spot one.
It comes after a Ukrainian strike outside Moscow killed five people and wounded six others, according to Russian authorities.
Ukraine has conducted long-range strikes targeting civilian infrastructure in Russia, and in recent weeks stepped up attacks on warehouses belonging to the Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries.
Moscow’s regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said early Tuesday that several fires broke out following a drone strike in the Novoselki industrial zone outside the Russian capital.
‘According to preliminary information, five people were killed and a further six wounded,’ he said on Telegram.
Drones also damaged a warehouse near Krasny Bor in northwestern Russia, wounding one person, according to Leningrad regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko.
Ukraine struck a Wildberries warehouse near Krasny Bor in Russia overnight into Tuesday
Later footage showed the site engulfed in a fire, with a huge plume of smoke rising from the warehouse
Wildberries said that a fire broke out at its Krasny Bor logistics facility as a result of the attack.
Footage showed at least one drone careering into the site, before exploding, with the building later seen engulfed in flames.
In the Tver region, to the north-west of Moscow, another Wildberries facility was damaged by drones, Vitaly Korolyov, the acting regional governor said. Nobody was hurt in that attack.
Kyiv has sought to disrupt the operations of Wildberries, which has become a linchpin of the Russian economy.
Its CEO and founder Tatyana Kim has called the Ukrainian attacks – which have targeted more than a dozen Wildberries sites since July 18 – ‘acts of terrorism’.
