Ukraine has accused Russia of a war crime after a 52-year-old vegetable seller, Yurii, was hunted and wounded by a Russian FPV drone in Kherson on August 4, 2026. The attack, captured on CCTV, is described by Ukrainian officials as part of a broader “human safari” campaign targeting civilians.
The attack occurred at a farmers’ market in the southern city of Kherson, where Yurii had traveled from the Mykolaiv region to sell produce. According to footage released by the National Police and shared by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a small FPV drone shadowed the man as he moved around his white van, eventually diving and exploding as he attempted to find cover.
Yurii survived the blast but sustained a concussion, blast trauma, and shrapnel wounds to his back and legs. He is currently in stable condition, according to regional officials. The incident has been logged as a suspected war crime, and Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a case.
Yurii’s Account of the “Human Safari”
Speaking from a hospital bed, Yurii described a scene of sudden terror in the open steppe. He told reporters that he and his wife had just begun unloading crates and setting up umbrellas when they heard a buzzing sound coming from bushes behind the market.
Photo: The Detroit News
“I only just put up the umbrella and started unloading the boxes. My wife was there, too. Then we heard it buzzing, but could not even see it. It came from somewhere behind the market, from those bushes over there, and flew in very low.”
Russian drone attacks food vendor in Ukraine
Yurii, vegetable seller
Yurii recalled attempting to signal to the drone that he was a non-combatant by gesturing toward his produce. He claimed he was holding two heads of garlic and that the drone flew low enough to see tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants on the ground. His wife managed to run away and was not injured, but the drone remained fixed on him until it detonated against the rear of his vehicle.
This was not the first time Yurii was targeted. He noted that he had previously managed to escape a drone attack while traveling to visit his mother-in-law.
Official Reactions from Kyiv and the UN
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared the footage on X, stating that Russia has gone mad and that its soldiers take pleasure in abusing civilians. He called for increased pressure on Moscow and stronger security guarantees to force a shift toward peace.
Photo: BBC
“The world must see this. It must see every piece of evidence that Russia has gone mad and that its soldiers take pleasure in killing and abusing civilians.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha characterized the attack as part of a deliberate campaign to intimidate civilians. Similarly, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets asserted that the video proves Russia’s tactic of pursuing and killing innocent people.
The broader trend of civilian casualties is reflected in data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. For the first six months of 2026, the UN documented 1,396 civilian deaths and 7,978 injuries. This represents a 37 per cent increase from 2025 and more than double the figures recorded in 2024. The UN attributes this surge primarily to intensifying Russian long-range missile and drone strikes on cities far from the front lines.
Contested Claims and Military Context
Russia’s Defence Ministry did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the Kherson incident, though the Russian government has repeatedly denied intentionally targeting civilians since the invasion began in February 2022.
Photo: Euronews
The incident occurs amid a wider pattern of reciprocal strikes. Russian authorities recently accused Ukraine of terrorism following a drone attack on the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik that killed seven people, including three children. A Ukrainian official countered that the drone only hit the beach because it was shot down by Russian air defenses, maintaining that Ukraine targets only military-industrial and economic infrastructure.
The use of FPV drones in “human safaris” is particularly prevalent in areas like Kherson, which sits only a few miles from the front line. This deployment of remotely-operated drones is used to terrify residents of these border regions, according to reports from the BBC.
Verification of the Attack
Because the date of the attack could not be independently confirmed through the footage alone, investigators relied on official statements from Ukrainian police and Foreign Minister Sybiha, who both cited Tuesday, August 4, as the date of the event.
Russian FPV drone attacks Ukrainian civilian in Kherson | Zelensky says Russia "gone mad"
The location was verified by the Reuters news agency, which matched the road layout, buildings, and vegetation in the video with satellite and archive imagery.
