Graphic warning: Horrific video shows Russian drone taunting, striking vegetable seller at Kherson market

A vegetable seller in Kherson survived being taunted and then hit by a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone as he set up his market stall in Kherson on Aug. 4, Kherson Oblast Police said on Aug. 4.

The attack was captured on camera and shows the drone circling and chasing the man, identified as 52-year-old Yurii, before diving towards him and exploding.

"I was showing the drone, 'Look there are vegetables' but it started flying right at me," he said later in an interview from hospital posted by the Kherson Oblast military administration. He suffered shrapnel wounds and a concussion during the attack.

The video was widely circulated on social media as yet another example of what has been dubbed the "human safari," a now years-long practice whereby Russian drone operators hone their skills on civilians before they are deployed to fight in Ukraine's east.

Kherson Oblast Police spokesman Andrii Kovanyi told the Kyiv Independent that such scenes have been a daily occurrence in Kherson over the last two years, though few are caught on camera in such detail. Russian forces do, however, regularly publish their own footage recorded by the drones despite the deliberate targeting of civilians constituting a war crime under international law.

Deploying the "full range of weapons at their disposal," Russian troops are "purposefully hunting" civilians from the occupied part of the city just across the Dnipro River, Kovanyi said.

"(Russian troops) do not hesitate in attacking people who are clearly, as can be seen in this video, civilians," he added.

Olga Suprunenko, a 47-year-old sales manager at Carlsberg Ukraine, is a regular at the market in the Tavriiskyi District in the northeastern part of Kherson, where the attack took place.

"We already live in constant fear," Suprunenko, whose 17-year-old son and her mother fled Kherson for western Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent.

"(Russian troops) are simply hunting people, not allowing them to earn a penny. The man just came from a village to earn money."

While Kherson is also regularly targeted by glide bombs, Shahed-type drones, and artillery, the ruthless use of FPV drones to hunt civilians remains one of the biggest threats.

Suprunenko said residents need to be extremely careful when heading outside and minimize risk by making "short dashes" under trees and along buildings, and constantly monitoring local Telegram channels for potential threats.

She also described ambush drones, FPV drones that lay hidden on the ground waiting for a potential victim to approach. Some delivery services have already stopped supplying grocery stores because Russian drones are attacking the trucks, she added.

"Life here in Kherson is like roulette, and we are afraid to even leave the house," Suprunenko said, describing it as "a nightmare."

Despite the constant, deadly threat, Suprunenko said she doesn't plan to leave Kherson because she and fellow residents are all "waiting for something," hoping the situation eases one day.

Euheniya Bielonohova, a 48-year-old IT specialist and translator who also lives in Kherson, said the number of Russian drones flying above the city significantly increased in recent days.

"It's a safari for people," Bielonohova said, talking to the Kyiv Independent shortly after another Russian FPV drone was shot down and fell about 20 meters from her.

"The killing of civilians is no longer a military action," Bielonohova said. "This is genocide — this is not war, this is worse."