Zelenskyy shares video of drone attack on vegetable seller in Kherson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared video footage of a drone attack on a civilian vegetable seller in the southern city of Kherson. The footage shows a drone pursuing a man around a van used as a street stand before diving towards him and exploding as he ducks for cover. Ukrainian officials said the man survived, but was wounded in the attack.

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The victim was identified by Ukrainian officials only as Yurii, a 52-year-old vegetable seller. According to the supplied material, he suffered shrapnel injuries to both legs and his back. Zelenskyy said the world must see what he described as Russia's drone "safari" against civilians in Kherson.

Ukrainian police and the foreign minister said the incident happened on Tuesday, although the exact date of the attack could not be independently confirmed. The location of the video was verified by the Reuters news agency using road layout and vegetation that matched satellite and archive imagery. Ukraine has accused Russia of committing a war crime in connection with the incident.

Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The attack comes as Ukraine says civilian casualties are rising because of intensified Russian missile and drone strikes on cities far from the front line. Kherson has been a repeated focus of the war since Russian forces occupied the city early in the full-scale invasion and later withdrew from the western bank of the Dnipro river.

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Even after that withdrawal, the city has remained within range of drones, artillery and other strikes, leaving civilians exposed to continuing risk. The latest video has added to Ukrainian efforts to document attacks that officials say show deliberate harm to non-combatants. The incident also carries legal and political weight because Ukraine is using it to press its case that attacks on civilians are not isolated events.

Zelenskyy linked the footage to his broader call for pressure on Russia, the dismantling of its capacity for aggression and security guarantees. Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, said Yurii had travelled to Kherson that morning to sell produce, underlining the civilian nature of the scene. What remains unclear is the precise timing of the strike and whether any further investigation will identify the drone unit involved.

Ukrainian officials have not said whether the man required hospital treatment beyond the reported shrapnel wounds. The case is likely to remain part of Ukraine's wider effort to document civilian harm and seek international attention for attacks in rear-area cities.

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