| Human safari | |
|---|---|
| Part ofRussian invasion of Ukraine | |
 | |
| Location | Kherson,Kherson Oblast, Ukraine |
| Date | May 2024 – present |
| Target | Ukrainian civilians |
| Deaths | 200 civilians (per UN estimate, October 2025) |
| Injured | 2,000 civilians (per UN estimate, October 2025) |
| Perpetrators | Russia |
| Motive | Anti-Ukrainian sentiment,Russian irredentism,terrorism |
Thehuman safari is a Russian campaign of deliberateterrorism against civilians inKherson, Ukraine. Russian military units, since May 2024, utilizedrones fitted withhand grenades and other explosives to purposefully target Ukrainian civilians during the ongoingRussian invasion of Ukraine.[1] According to aUN human rights commission report from October 2025, at least 200 civilians have been killed and over 2,000 have been wounded by Russian-operated drones in Kherson.[2]
Due to these actions, a UN report concluded there was a high probability that theRussian Armed Forces was guilty of murder,forced transfer,terror, attacks on civilians and outrages upon personal dignity which amount towar crimes andcrimes against humanity.[3] AHuman Rights Watch (HRW) report concurred and found Russian armed forces guilty of attacks on civilians, murder and terror as war crimes and crimes against humanity.[4]
The term "human safari" was first used in publication by journalistZarina Zabrisky in aKyiv Post article. The Russian practice of deliberately killing Ukrainian civilians using drones has since received broad coverage by media. Footage of the attacks are often shared and celebrated on Russian social media channels, with research published by Zabrisky finding that many drones used in the attacks had been obtained through fundraisers organized by Russian civilians.
The Ukrainian city ofKherson had previously beenoccupied by Russia in 2022 during theRussian invasion of Ukraine, but was laterliberated by Ukrainian forces. Following the liberation, Russian forces positioned across the river less than a kilometer away from the shores of the city and targeted residents with sniper, missile and artillery attacks.
Because of the close proximity of Russian forces enabling the use of drones in the attacks, theWashington Post described the situation in Kherson as atypical, since in the rest of Ukraine, Russia must use longer-range weapons to hit civilians. Kherson locals have described the Russian strikes from across the river as a kind of "punishment", because Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city captured by Russia to be liberated by Ukrainian forces.[5]
Parts of Kherson remained "somewhat safe" as residents managed to hide from Russian attacks by moving behind their buildings or to north-facing apartments.[6] However, Russians started sending in small drones instead to attack the city.[6] According to theKyiv Post, half of the Kherson casualties in July and August were caused by drones, with up to 100 attacks per day.[1] Roman Mrochko, the head of the military authority in Kherson, suggested that the Russians are training drone pilots on Kherson's civilians.[7]
Following the continued deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilians, Kherson locals started referring to theterror campaign as a "humansafari".[1][8] The term was first named in publication by journalistZarina Zabrisky who detailed conditions in Kherson as civilians faced constant drone attack.[9]
A representative from the Kherson military administration said nearly half of the 547 casualties reported from 1 July to 9 September 2024 were caused by drones. As of April 2025, this includes 121 civilian casualties according to the Kherson Prosecutors Office.[11]
Ukraine's TSN news programme reported a record high of 330 drone strikes and 224 explosive drops on 9 September.[12][13] On 31 October, the military administration said that 30 civilians had been killed by drone attacks in Kherson since 1 July. In the same period, more than 5,000 drone attacks had been recorded resulting in over 400 injured civilians.[14]
Civilian targets have included people waiting at bus stops, commuters, children playing in parks, schools, public buses, civilian cars, and ambulances. Russian drones using anapalm-like mixture to burn down entire neighbourhoods have also been reported.[1] Local volunteers and experts have reported "double tap" strikes hitting first responders andsappers, and preventing firefighters from responding.[13]
In what was described as a "typical case" byForbes, a mother-of-two was cycling home when she was spotted by a Russian drone, as she started pedaling as fast as she could she realized that the drone had started following her, eventually it dropped a grenade which brushed the woman's body before exploding at her feet, injuring her withshrapnel and leaving her unable to walk. Imagery of the attack was posted on a RussianTelegram with a winking faceemoji and a comment incorrectly describing her as a "soldier".[1]
In another example, footage shared publicly by Russian forces showed an explosive being dropped on aUN refugee agency vehicle.[15] TheBBC described a man having recently returned home from work stepping into his yard outside, lighting a cigarette and chatting with his neighbour before they heard the sound of a drone buzzing. The man's wife says she saw him run and take cover as the drone dropped a grenade, but he died at the scene because shrapnel had pierced his heart.[14]
In January 2025, Iryna Sokur, director of the Kherson Oncological Hospital, described drone attacks on patients, hospital staff and ambulances. Two ambulances were burnt on 11 November 2024, with a third being struck the next day. On 26 November, the head of the hospital lab was killed on her way to work. She also described one man being killed in his car while waiting in the parking lot to pick up a relative after their treatment. Sokur has herself been chased by drones twice. In early winter, almost all patients were evacuated as the situation became untenable, and the hospital was eventually destroyed by two Russian glide bombs on 20 December.[7]
On 10 July 2025, local authorities said a one-year-old boy who was staying with his great-grandmother inPravdyne had been struck by a Russian drone. The child died on the scene from injuries sustained from the explosion, and his grandmother was injured. The attack was part of a wider attack on Kherson, which wounded 17 people across the region.[16][17] Shortly after the attack, Ukraine's General Staff reported that the building the Russian drone crew responsible for the killing of the toddler were using had been identified by Ukrainian Military Intelligence, which subsequently launched FPV drones impacting the building, with further monitoring showing no further drone launches from the site following the strikes. Regional governorOleksandr Prokudin expressed gratitude following the operation, saying ″"Dmytro should never have been a target. I thank our soldiers for their just retribution. No occupier who brought death and destruction to our land will escape punishment."[18]
TheAtlantic Council reported that an 84 year old goat herder had been struck and killed by a Russian drone while tending to her animals on 20 October 2025.[19] Zarina Zabrisky told theEuromaidan Press that she had interviewed the woman, Larysa Vakuliuk, weeks earlier, where she had explained that she refused to evacuate because she felt responsible for her animals.[20]
On 26 November 2025, theUkrainian News Agency reported that a Russian drone struck a civilian car, killing a woman and a six-year-old child and injuring the driver.[21] On 2 February 2026, Prokudin said that Russian drones attacked an ambulance, resulting in the driver suffering mild injuries. On 4 February, he said a nurse had been killed after being attacked by a Russian FPV drone.[22] On 6 February, another attack was reported by Prokudin, who said that an evacuation vehicle had been attacked by Russian drones as volunteers were trying to rescue people inBeryslav, resulting in one person being killed and three injured.[23]
The footage captured during the attacks on Ukrainian civilians are shared and celebrated on Russian social media channels. Research published by Zabrisky found that many of the drones are purchased through fundraisers organized by Russian civilians, and Russian soldiers share drone footage showcasing Ukrainian deaths online so that supporters of the fundraisers can see their "return on investment". Pop music is sometimes added to the footage.[1][6][13]
The BBC identified a Telegram channel with the earliest public footage of some of the drone attacks, each of the videos were posted with goading and threats to the Ukrainian public. Injured people were also insulted being called "pigs", and in one instance mocked for being a woman. The same account had also shared images of drones and other equipment, thanking people for donations.[14]
On 23 March 2025 Ukrainian channel "Telebachenia Toronto" published an investigation into the identities of the most prominent Russian UAV pilots engaged in the "human safari" who came out to be Sergei Iordan ('Malakhit'), Eduard Yust ('Moisey'), both from the 8th Artillery Regiment, Yegor Afanasenkov (22th Brigade GRU) and Aleksandr Sheptura (205th Brigade).[24]
Multiple International, human rights groups, and local law enforcement organizations have investigated the claims of a human safari in Kherson.[25][26] These reports found the human safari to mean Russia had committed war crimes.[27] The Kherson Prosecutor's Office has also launched over 1,000 official investigations.[11]
A May 2025 report by theOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) examined these crimes in Kherson and found theRussian Armed Forces guilty of murder,forced transfer, attacks on civilians and outrages upon personal dignity which amount towar crimes andcrimes against humanity. The attacks were deemed widespread and aimed against the civilian population.[3] The report concluded:
The civilian population in the areas affected by drone attacks lives in constant fear. Residents take risks every time they go outside, as they fear being struck by drones. Many wait for cloudy days to go out, or seek cover under trees, where possible. Fear is further induced by frequent messages posted onTelegram, such as "Get out of the city before the leaves fall, you who are destined to die." The circumstances of the attacks, the videos, and the explicit threatening text posts demonstrate that Russian armed forces and those supporting them have committed acts or threats of violence for the primary purpose of spreading terror among the civilian population, in violation ofinternational humanitarian law. Referring to Russian soldiers, a senior health professional of a hospital in Kherson said: "They are simply chasing and hunting civilians who are on their way to work or walking their dogs. They drop explosives from drones like it is a video game." The scale and intensity of the drone attacks against civilians and civilian objects as well as the destruction of houses and basic infrastructure, the targeting of all means of transport, and attacks against emergency and rescue services, have all rendered the affected areas unliveable and left many residents with no other choice than to flee. The recurrent drone attacks, the widely disseminated videos showing them, and numerous posts explicitly exhorting the population to leave suggest a coordinated state policy, on the part of the Russian authorities, to force the population of Kherson Province to leave the area. The Commission therefore concludes that Russian armed forces may have committed the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population.[3]
In June 2025,Human Rights Watch published a report on the targeting of civilians in Kherson by Russian UAV pilots.[28] The researchers Human Rights Watch documented 45 drone strikes in Antonivka and Dniprosvkyi that suggested that civilians and civilian objects including infrastructure get targeted.[29]
Human Rights Watch drew on multiple sources, including interviewing 36 survivors and witnesses.[27] They identified Russian Telegram channels used to promote the terrorist attacks.[28] This included posting of receipts as proof of fundraising support.
The report concluded the attacks were war crimes:
International humanitarian law, also known as the laws of war, prohibits attacks intentionally targeting civilians and civilian objects. Nevertheless, Russian forces using drones have frequently made individual civilians and civilian property and infrastructure in Kherson the targets of attacks. Russian drones have been armed with banned antipersonnel landmines and been used to carry out attacks with incendiary weapons in populated areas, which is unlawful. Such attacks, when viewed individually, are violations of the laws of war that when committed with criminal intent constitute war crimes. Examined in their totality and over time, the pattern of attacks appears to be part of an apparent Russian strategy whose primary purpose has been to spread terror among the civilian population.[28]
The Centre for Information Resilience published a report on the drone attacks targeting civilians in December 2024,[30] This included the dropping of anti-personnel mines in civilian areas. The report concluded there was a high probability Russian troops were using civilians for target practice during "live-fire exercises".[31]
Since 1 February 2022, the Kherson Prosecutor's Office has opened 1,650 criminal cases over Russian drone attacks in Kherson.[32] Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office Oleksiy Butenko noted these represent a pattern of deliberate terrorism.[11] According to Oleksiy Butenk:
Russians are hunting civilians, they can move by bicycle or on foot, dressed without any signs that could take them to the military. The operator of the drone in real time realizes who he throws explosives on, and therefore deliberately commits terror against civilians.[33]
