'Drone safari': Russian forces target Kherson civilians in daily attacks

This is reported by The Times.

The attacks usually begin before dawn when drones fly low over the city searching for targets. They focus on civilians, including emergency service workers, pensioners, and people commuting to work. After the attacks, drone operators post videos of the killings on Russian Telegram channels, turning these crimes into brutal “trophies.”

“We call it ‘drone safari’ because that is what it is,” says Kateryna Drobinina, 53, with a flash of anger, in a ward of the wounded at Kherson’s Luchansky City Clinical Hospital, a surgical fixator around her shattered right leg. “We are deliberately hunted. You can’t call it anything else.”

Since early December, drones have begun attacking not only the outskirts but also the city center of Kherson. The city, which was occupied by Russian forces for eight months, became a symbol of hope for Ukraine after its liberation in November 2022. However, despite this, it continues to suffer from Russian artillery and drone strikes. Of Kherson’s pre-war population of 300,000, fewer than 80,000 have returned.

From August to December 2024, 12,000 Russian drone flights were recorded in the Kherson region, resulting in the deaths of 64 civilians and injuries to 609 others. The local authorities have allocated one-third of the regional budget for 2024 to defense, including jamming systems, early warning measures, and public information campaigns.

Many critical workers, including utility and emergency service personnel and medical staff, use portable early drone detection devices. Additionally, thousands of posters have been put up around the city, depicting black silhouettes of drones dropping grenades, with the message: “Treat the sound of every drone as an enemy.”

However, Russian forces are adapting to the new conditions, using fiber-optic drones that are resistant to electronic jamming.

Overall, the number of attacks is increasing, leading to more civilian casualties.

A few months ago, before the attacks reached the city center, victims of drone strikes from remote areas were usually taken to Kherson’s Luchansky City Clinical Hospital, one of the city’s four main medical facilities. Now, many of the injured are pedestrians targeted by drone-dropped explosives near the hospital itself. At times, Russian drones even bomb the hospital directly.

• On Saturday, February 1, the invading Russian army attacked Antonivka in the Kherson region, killing a local resident.