Zelenskyy condemns Russian drone attack on Kherson street vendor

A Russian drone chased a street vendor through a Kherson street before detonating nearby, leaving 52-year-old Yuriy with shrapnel wounds, blast trauma, a concussion and shock. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the footage showed Russian soldiers “take pleasure in killing” civilians, while Ukrainian officials described the attack as a deliberate “human safari” against ordinary people in southern Ukraine.

The video, circulated by Ukrainian officials and police, shows the drone pursuing Yuriy on a city street as he tried to get away and cowered behind a white van before the strike. The BBC identified the man as Yuriy, a 52-year-old street vegetable seller who survived the blast. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of a war crime, and Ukrainian authorities said the incident occurred on Aug. 4, 2026.

The footage is the kind of material investigators can test against other evidence when they assess whether a strike targeted civilians. The street layout, the white van, the drone’s movement and Yuriy’s documented injuries can be compared with police statements, medical records and other local accounts to build a record that may matter in future prosecutions. In Ukraine, the phrase “human safari” is used for remotely operated drone attacks on people in frontline areas, a term that reflects the hunted quality officials see in this attack.

Kherson has been hit repeatedly by Russian drone strikes during the war. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said at least 214 civilians were killed and 916 injured in September 2025, with 69% of casualties near the frontline and especially high numbers in the Donetsk and Kherson regions. Earlier this year, on Jan. 6, 2025, a Russian drone attack on a civilian passenger bus in Kherson killed at least one person, reinforcing how often daily street life in the city has been exposed to attack.