Begging for Life, Then Chased Down: "It's Just Vegetables," Left Covered in Shrapnel

[Anchor]

As the war in Ukraine continues, civilian casualties are steadily mounting. A Ukrainian drone attack killed a child at a Russian resort, while Russian forces launched a drone strike on a Ukrainian merchant pleading for his life.

Paris correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.

[Reporter]

A drone circles around a vehicle, chasing a man.

The man flees, putting his hands together and begging toward the drone, but the drone hovers above his head, suddenly plunges toward him, and explodes.

The man was a market merchant in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson.

[Yuri / Drone Attack Victim: My wife ran away, so the drone turned around and chased me. So I tried to show it, 'Look at this. These are just vegetables. This is definitely not military equipment.']

The merchant, who survived the drone strike believed to be the work of the Russian military, miraculously escaped with his life but was peppered with shrapnel all over his body.

[Yuri / Drone Attack Victim: The drone circled around me, and the moment it came right above my head, it suddenly lunged and exploded. I collapsed on the spot, and later when I came to, my car was on fire and people were trying to rescue me.]

Ukraine strongly condemned Russia, citing the footage as evidence of Russia's brutal attacks on civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also criticized that ordinary citizens are exposed to Russian drone attacks, demanding an end to attacks targeting human lives.


However, the day before yesterday, a drone struck a beach at a resort in southern Russia, killing seven civilians, including three children.

Russia blamed the attack on the Ukrainian military, but Ukraine has not released a statement.

It is estimated that more than 10 civilians have been additionally killed by both sides this month alone, and early this morning (Aug. 5), a Russian ballistic missile struck a residential area in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, causing civilian casualties.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has warned that the scale of civilian casualties has reached its highest level since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022.

(Cameraographed by Kim Si-nae | Video edited by Cho Mu-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.