Ukraine Accuses Russian Troops of 'Safari Hunting' Civilians

[Financial News] A video showing a drone relentlessly chasing a street civilian in Kherson, southern Ukraine, before exploding has sparked outrage. The Ukrainian government strongly condemned it as a deliberate Russian Armed Forces' 'safari hunt' targeting civilians and called it a war crime.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other foreign media outlets on the 4th local time, a video was posted on Ukrainian social media showing a drone attacking a Ukrainian vendor in the southern Kherson region.
The footage shows the drone pursuing a man who tries to hide behind a vehicle before detonating an explosive.
The victim was a 52-year-old man selling vegetables at a Kherson street stall. He suffered shrapnel wounds, a concussion, and blast injuries, but his life is not in danger.
The man said, "I heard the buzzing of the drone when I started putting up the parasol and unloading the boxes," describing the tense moments at the scene.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared the video on his X account and urged the international community to pay attention.
He said, "This is proof that Russia has been consumed by madness, and that its soldiers take pleasure in killing and abusing civilians. The whole world must see this atrocity clearly."
Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, also condemned the attack, saying, "The sadist who operated the drone knew exactly that he was targeting civilians. This is a barbaric war crime and a systematic strategy."
Dmytro Lubinets, the human rights ombudsman of Ukraine, also criticized the video, calling it "a real tactic showing Russia tracking down and killing innocent people."
Kherson was a city of 280,000 people before the war. It was occupied by Russia from March to November 2022 before being recaptured. Russian Armed Forces stationed across the Dnipro River are now continuing drone and artillery attacks on Kherson.


[email protected] Yoon Jae-joon Reporter