Ukraine accuses Russia of war crime after drone attack on Kherson vendor
Translated from Croatian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
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- Ukraine's Foreign Minister accused Russia of a war crime after a video showed a drone attacking a street vendor in Kherson.
- The vendor survived the attack but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.
- The incident is part of what Ukraine describes as a deliberate Russian campaign to intimidate civilians.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha condemned Russia for committing a war crime after a video emerged showing a drone deliberately targeting and injuring a street vendor in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. The footage, released by Ukrainian police, depicts a drone pursuing an unidentified man around a van used as a street stall before detonating near him as he sought cover.
Today, many were shocked by yet another video of the drone โsafariโ Russians are carrying out against civilians in Kherson. A Russian drone deliberately hunted down a man selling vegetables and detonated right next to him. The Russians even admitted to the crime, showing zeroโฆ
The vendor, a man in his fifties, survived the blast but sustained injuries from shrapnel and experienced shock, according to police reports. The location of the incident was verified by Reuters using building, road layout, and vegetation details that matched satellite and archival imagery. While the exact date could not be independently confirmed, Ukrainian police and Sibiha stated the attack occurred on Tuesday.
In a Telegram post, Sibiha characterized the attack as part of a deliberate Russian strategy to instill fear among civilians. "This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never see the light of day," he stated, adding that the Russian drone pilot was aware of targeting a civilian and called the pilot a "sadist."
This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never see the light of day.
Sibiha called for a "strong defensive and deterrent package for Ukraine and reliable, guaranteed security." The incident in Kherson follows other deadly Russian attacks. Dvoe detey i odna starshaya zhenshchina takzhe pogibli v nochnykh rossiyskikh napadakh navodonymi napravleniyami severni ukrainskiy gorod Sumi, skazal regionalnyy guverner Oleh Hrihorov na Telegramu. (Two children and an elderly woman also died in night Russian attacks guided by devices in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, said regional governor Oleh Hrihorov on Telegram.)
The pilot of the Russian drone was aware that he was targeting a civilian, calling him a 'sadist'.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported in July that the first six months of 2026 saw a 37% increase in civilian casualties compared to the previous year, largely due to intensified Russian long-range missile and drone strikes on urban centers. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the ongoing conflict.
a strong defensive and deterrent package for Ukraine and reliable, guaranteed security
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by Veฤernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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