Video shows Russian drone chasing Ukrainian street vendor in 'human safari' attack

What the report says

BBC World News reported that a video shared by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky showed a remotely operated drone pursuing a civilian in southern Ukraine, in what Ukrainian officials described as a Russian “human safari” attack. The footage was said to capture a street vendor in the Kherson region trying to move away from the drone before it struck and exploded nearby. Ukraine called the incident a war crime and said it reflected a wider pattern of drone attacks against civilians in frontline areas.

According to the article, the man was later identified by the Kherson regional governor as Yuriy, a 52-year-old vegetable seller. He was shown speaking from a hospital bed after the attack. Yuriy said he had been setting out produce beside his van when he heard the drone overhead, and that it followed him even as he tried to get away. BBC Verify said it geolocated the video to a market area in the Tavriiskyi district of northern Kherson.

The report placed the incident in a broader context of fighting in Kherson, a region close to the front line where Ukrainian officials and international observers have long accused Russian forces of using drones to terrorize civilians. The BBC also noted that the United Nations has said posting videos of civilian killings and injuries can amount to a war crime involving outrage upon personal dignity.