Russian military forces have killed 712 civilians and wounded over 4,000 in Kherson through systematic drone attacks that Russian pro-war Telegram channels openly describe as a "human safari," according to a new investigation by The Insider.
The campaign represents a deliberate escalation in targeting civilians, with first-person view (FPV) drones hunting pedestrians, cyclists, ambulance crews, and public bus passengers in what appears to be a methodical effort to make the Ukrainian-controlled city uninhabitable. In Russia, as in much of the former Soviet space, understanding requires reading between the lines—but in this case, Russian military channels are stating their intentions explicitly.
Journalist Zarina Zabrisky's documentary investigation documented Russian drone operators selecting and attacking civilian targets in real time. The systematic nature of the strikes became particularly evident following multiple attacks on public buses throughout 2025, including incidents in January, August, and November that resulted in civilian casualties.
Deliberate Civilian Targeting
Russian pro-war Telegram channels have been remarkably candid about their objectives. "We will constantly write about the need to evacuate the entire civilian population," one channel stated, effectively acknowledging the goal of depopulating Ukrainian-controlled territory through fear and violence.
The Russian information environment has developed elaborate justifications for these attacks. Channels claim victims aren't civilians but combatants "in disguise," describing passenger vehicles as "dual-use transport" and declaring all vehicles "legitimate targets"—a framework that effectively eliminates any distinction between military and civilian targets.
One Kherson resident described the psychological toll: "Any time you step outside your apartment into the open is a risk." The December 2025 destruction of the city's thermal power plant, leaving over 40,000 residents without heat during winter, further demonstrates the systematic approach to making civilian life impossible.
Evolution of Tactics
The drone campaign escalated dramatically from rare incidents in 2023 to intensive operations throughout 2025. The sophistication and frequency of attacks suggest coordination and resource allocation from Russian military command rather than isolated actions by individual operators.
Local volunteers have attempted to mitigate the threat by distributing drone detectors and operating information channels that alert residents to drone positions, helping civilians time their movements to avoid exposure. But this response itself illustrates how normal life in Kherson has become impossible—residents must now plan trips to shops or medical facilities around real-time military threat assessments.
International Law Implications
The deliberate targeting of civilians constitutes clear violations of international humanitarian law. The use of the term "human safari" in Russian military channels—describing the hunting of Ukrainian civilians as sport—provides documentary evidence of systematic war crimes. The casualty figures from 2024-2025 in Kherson alone—712 killed and 4,175 wounded—represent a sustained campaign rather than collateral damage from military operations.
The attacks on medical personnel and ambulances, explicitly protected under the Geneva Conventions, further demonstrate the systematic disregard for international legal frameworks. Russian military channels' open boasting about these operations suggests confidence that there will be no accountability.
Reading Russian Signals
In Russia, as in much of the former Soviet space, understanding requires reading between the lines. But the Kherson drone campaign needs little interpretation—Russian military channels openly celebrate civilian casualties and state their goal of forcing complete evacuation of Ukrainian-controlled territory.
This transparency in Russian information spaces contrasts sharply with official Kremlin statements, which continue to claim Russia targets only military infrastructure. The gap between official narrative and the reality documented on Russian military Telegram channels has become a defining feature of the information environment surrounding Russia's war in Ukraine.
The systematic nature of the Kherson attacks, combined with explicit statements of intent from Russian military channels, provides clear evidence of a deliberate campaign to terrorize and depopulate Ukrainian civilian areas through direct targeting of non-combatants—a strategy that amounts to war crimes under established international law.
