"Human safari, everything is flying here": how Kherson survives under sights of Russian drones. VIDEO
Since the start of 2026 alone, more than 50 deaths and 450 injuries have been recorded in Kherson and the surrounding region. Russian invaders are deliberately ‘hunting’ civilians with drones.
This is reported in a story by "Ukrainian Witness", as reported by Censor.NET.
Life in the city
Entry to the city is now protected by nets, and the green light at the traffic lights determines not the order of passage, but the safety of traffic – whether there are enemy FPV drones in the sky. You have to drive fast, because the green light can turn red at any moment.
Residents describe what is happening in the city succinctly: "A human safari".
Locals say that drones, Grad rockets, artillery and mortars are striking "every day, 24/7".
Rescue
Journalists spent several days with volunteer Andriy Petukhov, known as "Boxer". He survived the occupation in Kherson and is now helping residents evacuate from dangerous areas of the city and region.
"It’s getting worse and worse every year. People say they’re hopeful, but they simply don’t notice how things are getting worse," he said.
Sometimes there are no more than five minutes to evacuate. Together with the police, volunteers are trying to get families with children out of the ‘red zones’, where mandatory evacuation has been ordered. However, they sometimes face resistance.
A film crew witnessed a family with three children in the village of Stanislav locking themselves inside a battered, windowless house and refusing to leave. The case will now go to court to forcibly evacuate the children from the deadly danger zone.
But there are other cases too – a grandfather from Shyroka Balka agreed to evacuate only after the Russians had completely destroyed his home. With tears in his eyes, he carried out the most precious things that had survived – a pregnant rabbit and his dog, Bonia.
Evacuation of the bodies of the dead
A volunteer recounted some harrowing incidents – he once retrieved a body that had lain for over 20 days in a shattered bathtub, and helped reburial a son whom his mother had buried alone in the yard.
According to him, requests for the evacuation of bodies come from the people of Kherson themselves, as well as the police and the military administration. Relatives ask that at least some remains of bodies torn apart by shells be collected.
Everything is flying around here
Suvorov Street is currently deserted due to the drone threat, whilst in the Tavriia neighbourhood, public transport is running, families with children are out walking, and cafés are serving lattes and cappuccinos.
However, the situation could change at any moment, as the hunting ground of enemy drones is constantly expanding.
Vendors working at the Dniprovskyi Market, which is located in the ‘red zone’, say: ‘The red zone – everything’s flying around here’.
As soon as they hear the sound of an enemy drone, they drop their goods and run for cover. But when asked if they are afraid of the constant shelling, the locals reply:"What can we do?"
In this same "red zone", the local maternity hospital is also under constant threat, having been attacked by the Russians several times. The head of the obstetrics department, Petro Marenkovskyi, said that before the war, they handled 1,300–1,500 births a year, whereas in 2025, just over a hundred children were born.
