Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had gone “mad” after a video emerged appearing to show a Russian military drone pursuing a Ukrainian vegetable seller before exploding beside him.
The attack took place on Aug. 4 at a market in Kherson, in southern Ukraine. Video released by the Kherson Regional Military Administration shows a drone hovering near a man beside a minibus, then tracking him as he moves behind the vehicle. Seconds later, the drone drops toward the minibus and detonates near the front of it, exploding close to where the man was standing.
“A Russian drone deliberately hunted down a man selling vegetables and detonated right next to him,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, sharing the footage. “The Russians even admitted to the crime, showing zero regret and openly boasting about tormenting people. The man was wounded in the blast. Every single day, ordinary people in Kherson face these Russian ‘safaris.’”
Footage released by the Kherson Regional Military Administration shows a drone tracking a man near a minibus before striking and exploding beside the vehicle. The man miraculously survived. (East2West)
The vendor, identified as 52-year-old Yuriy, survived the blast. Ukrainian officials say the incident reflects a broader pattern of Russian drone strikes in which civilians are followed and targeted — attacks they have described as “human safaris.”
From his hospital bed, Yuriy told the BBC that he and his wife had been preparing their stall when he heard the sound of a drone nearby. His wife ran to safety, while the drone focused on him. In an effort to show he was not armed, Yuriy said he pulled out vegetables.
“It could see that I had tomatoes out, some cucumbers and eggplants laid out on the floor,” Yuriy told the BBC. “It even ducked under the umbrella when I was running away round the other side.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike as a “barbaric war crime” and called for international action.
Zelenskyy argued that everyone should see the video to make clear what Russia is capable of, arguing that President Vladimir Putin won’t stop with Ukraine.
“This is not just about Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Russia’s campaign against human life must be stopped here in Ukraine before it spreads further. Finland and Kazakhstan, the Baltic states and Poland, the countries of the South Caucasus, Romania, and Moldova — all should work together to ensure real security guarantees and bring Russia’s war to an end.”
Russian drone strike killed at least 12 Ukrainian coal miners and injured seven others when it hit a civilian bus in Dnipropetrovsk region. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk region)
“Peace is needed, which requires cooperation among everyone in the world who truly values peace,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office says authorities have opened 5,303 criminal cases into drone attacks on civilian targets in the Kherson region. The office says the attacks have killed 287 civilians and wounded 2,549 others, including 41 children.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at a podium split with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin crossing himself at Orthodox Easter service. (Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via Reuters; AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Prosecutors said the attacks appeared to be part of a systematic campaign, with FPV drones repeatedly striking civilians in public places, homes, transport hubs and civilian vehicles, and in some cases launching follow-up attacks after emergency crews arrived.
The release of the chilling video comes a year after a one-year-old boy was killed by a Russian drone in the Kherson region while playing in his playpen in his grandmother’s backyard.
