A video of a drone chasing a vegetable seller in Kherson and then blowing itself up has garnered millions of views on social media. According to Zelensky, "human safari" has long been part of Russia's toolkit.
A video of a drone chasing a vegetable seller in Kherson has garnered millions of views on social media. He tries to hide around his van and crates, but the drone circles around him and eventually blows itself up. The 52-year-old man is injured but survives.
"Human safari"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of a "human safari". Independent media checks confirm that the footage is authentic and is from the city of Kherson, which was recaptured from Ukraine in November 2022.
Later, the victim recounted in an interview from the hospital how he tried to signal to the drone that he was selling tomatoes and eggplants, but the pilot apparently ignored him. The interview was released by the military authorities in the city.
Civilians in Kherson are regularly targeted
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha, this is a targeted campaign of harassment of civilians in Ukraine. "This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never become public knowledge," he wrote.
As early as May 2025, the UN Human Rights Council concluded that drone attacks by the Russian armed forces against civilians in the Kherson region constituted crimes against humanity. Kherson is close to the front line - on the Dnieper River, where Ukrainian and Russian troops are fighting. Civilians in the capital of the Kherson region are regularly targeted.