Ukraine slams Russian ‘drone safari’ after video shows vegetable seller being chased down

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a vegetable seller in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.

Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing a man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding ‌as he dives for cover behind the vehicle. Police said the man in his 50s survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.

Ukrainian officials later identified him only as a 52-year-old called Yurii and released a video interview with him from a hospital ward.

“Today, many were shocked by yet another video of the drone ‘safari’ Russians are carrying out against civilians in Kherson,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media, saying that “Russia has gone mad” and calling for more pressure on Moscow and strong security guarantees for Ukraine.

“We must act and support life in ways that force Russia to think seriously about peace ⁠rather than expanding the range of its drones.”

Reuters verified the location using buildings, the road layout and vegetation that matched satellite and archive imagery. The date could not be ‌independently confirmed, but Ukraine’s police and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the incident happened on Tuesday.