🚨 BREAKING: Russian drone operator hunts down civilian market vendor in Ukraine’s Kherson.

Police video captured the moment a Russian drone hunted down a 52-year-old civilian market vendor, leaving him severely wounded with blast trauma and shrapnel injuries. A war crime filmed… pic.twitter.com/T49nvR6RZO

— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) August 4, 2026

Ukrainian police and Kherson City Military Administration head Yaroslav Shanko said the 50-year-old vendor survived the explosion with shrapnel and shock injuries.

Russia did not immediately comment on the specific incident. Moscow has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting civilians during the war.

Ukraine calls for international condemnation

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of a deliberate campaign to intimidate civilians. “This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never come to the public eye,” Sybiha wrote in a Telegram post.

This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson requires international condemnation and justice, yet thousands of similar crimes never reach the public eye.

This is a deliberate and systemic Russian strategy. They know exactly what they are doing. The sadist operating this drone… https://t.co/h8GQdnQSyZ

— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) August 4, 2026

Kherson, located on the Dnipro River near the front line, has been one of the regions most frequently targeted by drone and artillery attacks since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

The Ukrainian minister added that the pilot of the Russian drone would have been aware that they were pursuing and targeting civilians, while calling them a “sadist”. Sybiha demanded “a powerful defence and deterrence package for Ukraine, and reliable, guaranteed security.”

Civilian casualties mount as both sides trade accusations

The incident comes as drone warfare increasingly shapes the conflict, with both Russia and Ukraine relying heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and precision strikes. The United Nations says more than 16,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, while both sides continue to accuse each other of attacks on civilian areas.

In contrast to Ukrainian allegations, Moscow accused Kyiv of killing seven people in a blast in the Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik on Monday, a video of which has gone viral on social media.

Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting civilians in the country; however, Ukrainian officials have not confirmed whether it was behind the explosion in the resort town, NBC News reported.