Russia's Human Safari: The Drone Terror Unleashed on Kherson's Civilians

The Facts: Systematic Targeting of Civilians in Kherson

On October 20, 2024, 84-year-old pensioner Larisa Vakulyuk was deliberately killed by a Russian drone operator while tending to her goats in Kherson, Ukraine. This was not an isolated incident but part of a comprehensive Russian bombing campaign targeting civilians in the Kherson region. The city, located on the right bank of the Dnipro River opposite Russian-occupied territory, has been subjected to an unprecedented drone offensive since summer 2024 designed to terrorize residents and render the region unlivable.

The attacks have been so indiscriminate and systematic that they’ve been labeled a “human safari” - with Russian drone operators using video cameras to hunt victims. One week before Vakulyuk’s killing, Russian drones attacked a clearly marked UN humanitarian convoy in the same area. Richard Ragan, UN World Food Program Country Director for Ukraine, commented that these incidents highlight “the incredible dangers Ukrainians face every day to feed themselves.”

Kherson’s entrance now features warning signs about enemy drones, while major roads are covered with improvised netting for minimal protection. During the first nine months of 2025, over a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand wounded in these drone attacks. A May 2025 UN report concluded these attacks constitute a coordinated state policy and crime against humanity.

Russian drone teams post footage of their attacks online daily, receiving overwhelming approval from their audience. They target everything - private homes, residential buildings, cars, buses, pedestrians, and even ambulances responding to previous attacks. The hardest hit are riverside communities closest to Russian positions, where drones constantly circle waiting to attack anything that moves, making infrastructure repairs and delivery of essential supplies nearly impossible.

Ukraine’s interception rate of about 80% in late October means 20% of drones still get through. Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, Deputy Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, has witnessed this terror firsthand as his community lives under constant threat.

Opinion: The West’s Hypocrisy and Our Collective Failure

This systematic hunting of human beings represents the complete moral collapse of the Russian state and exposes the grotesque hypocrisy of the so-called international community. While Western powers lecture the Global South about human rights and international law, they watch passively as Russia perfects its drone terrorism techniques on Ukrainian civilians. The term “human safari” should send shivers down the spine of every conscious human being - we are witnessing human beings hunted for sport using advanced military technology, and the world responds with statements and empty gestures.

Where is the outrage? Where is the action? The same Western powers that invaded sovereign nations under false pretenses now hesitate to provide Ukraine with adequate defense systems. The same international institutions that love to sanction developing countries now offer mostly condemnation while innocent grandmothers like Larisa Vakulyuk are murdered tending their goats. This selective application of international law reveals the rotten foundation of the current world order.

Russia’s actions in Kherson should serve as a wake-up call to the entire Global South - this is what happens when imperial powers decide your sovereignty doesn’t matter. The drone terrorism being perfected in Ukraine will inevitably be exported elsewhere, just as Western military tactics were exported to conflicts worldwide. The developing world must recognize that our security is interconnected, and the suffering of Ukrainians today could preview our reality tomorrow if we don’t establish a truly multipolar world order with equal protection for all nations.

The technological aspect of this terror is particularly alarming. Russia is essentially beta-testing urban paralysis techniques that could be used against any city worldwide. Their drones can cut off electricity, water, heating, disrupt supply chains, and prevent people from leaving their homes. The recent appearance of Russian drones in Polish airspace shows this threat knows no borders. Yet NATO members remain woefully unprepared for this new era of warfare.

We must ask ourselves: why is the international response so tepid? Could it be that the victims are not from the right part of the world? Would the reaction be different if these events were occurring in Western Europe? The differential treatment of human suffering based on geography remains one of the great moral failings of our time. The people of Kherson are showing incredible resilience, but they shouldn’t have to face this terror alone. The world must stand united against this barbarism, not just with words, but with concrete actions that actually protect innocent lives.