Russian military unit documents own war crime, milblogger publishes then deletes video
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A Russian military unit has recorded footage of its own drone attack on a United Nations vehicle in the front-line city of Kherson, a war crime under international law.
On May 14 the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Ukraine, reported that "a clearly marked" UN vehicle was struck by a first-person view (FPV) drone but said they did not know who had attacked it. No casualties were reported.
"Civilians and humanitarians should not be the target," Andrea De Domenico, the OCHA's Head of Office in Ukraine, stated, adding it was providing humanitarian assistance to civilians at the time.
On May 15, the Russian milblogger Osvedomitell Alex posted a video on Telegram showing the FPV attack. The video begins with the logo of Russia's Russia's Dnepr Group of Forces which operates in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast.
At the time of publication, the Telegram post had been deleted, but it was circulating in other pro-Russian channels and was picked up by a Ukrainian blogger and volunteer, Serhii Sternenko.
"The Russians are not hiding it, they are war criminals, and anyone who wants to strike a deal with them is an accomplice to these crimes," Sternenko wrote on X on May 15.
Attacking a clearly-marked UN vehicle conducting humanitarian missions is a war crime under international law.
The milblogger Osvedomitell Alex claimed that the humanitarian mission provided no official approvals, notifications, or security corridors, and he called Kherson a red zone, saying that "any unidentified vehicle, especially one approaching the front line without prior arrangements, is considered a dual-use target."
De Domenico said that the organization had notified both the Ukrainian and Russian military.
Victoria Andrievska, OCHA Public Information Officer, reported on May 14 that this marks the second incident in a week, as on March 12, in the Dnipro Oblast, a UN truck was hit during an aid delivery, and a driver suffered injuries.
"I am alarmed by the repeated instances of violence against humanitarian workers that raise questions about the adherence to International Humanitarian Law. Three humanitarians have been killed, and 10 injured in 56 incidents from January to April 2026," Andrievska said.
Located directly on the front line along the Dnipro River, Kherson has faced sustained drone and artillery attacks since Ukrainian forces liberated the city in late 2022.
It is is notoriously a zone in which Russian troops are running a "human safari," hunting for civilians in an attempt to render the city uninhabitable. Residents are well within range of even the shortest-ranged FPV drones, which Russia constantly sends into the city center.
