Street vendor chased by drone in chilling video of roadside attack
Chilling vision of a drone strike on a street vendor in Ukraine shows the moment the victim is chased around a car before the device explodes on his back.
In the video posted to X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the drone hovers in front of the vegetable seller who tries to move around the back of his van.
The drone stalked the street vendor, chasing him around his van. X
The drone then made a beeline for the victim, exploding at his back. X
Holding something in his hands, the victim circles his van before the device flies directly towards him and explodes, sending a thick wave of smoke into the air.
The victim has been identified as a 52-year-old man named Yuriy, who suffered devastating cuts and burns across his body in the blast.
Zelenskyy decried the Russian drone “safari” targeting civilians in Kherson.
“The Russians even admitted to the crime, showing zero regret and openly boasting about tormenting people,” Zelenskyy said in the post on X.
“The world must see this. It must see every piece of evidence that Russia has gone mad and that its soldiers take pleasure in killing and abusing civilians.”
Yuriy said the drone flew around him for a few moments before it struck. Supplied
In a video posted by the Kherson regional governor, Yuiriy said he and his wife had started laying out crates of vegetables when he heard a buzzing sound.
“It could see that I had tomatoes out, some cucumbers and eggplants laid out on the floor,” Yuriy said.
“It even ducked under the umbrella when I was running away round the other side.”
Yuriy suffered multiple shrapnel wounds, concussion and trauma. Supplied
The term “human safari” has been used by Ukraine to describe Russia’s ongoing method of drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians in a bid to terrify them.
The BBC reported that the videos filmed by the drones before they explode on their targets are posted online and broadcast to thousands of people.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack was “barbaric” and called it a Russian war crime.
“This is a deliberate and systemic Russian strategy,” he said.
“They know exactly what they are doing. The sadist operating this drone knows full well that he is targeting a civilian.”
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
