KHERSON, Ukraine – The new Kherson municipal offices are located a few floors belowground, one of the more glaring signs that civilians here are routinely hunted by drones operated by Russian forces about 3 miles away, on the far side of the Dnieper River.
Ukrainian forces liberated 30 percent of the region in November 2022, nine months after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Since then, the front line has been at a stalemate; that doesn’t mean it’s been inactive.
Kherson suffers near-daily attacks from all manner of Russian weapons, artillery and missiles. But armed drones, and their targeting of civilians, are drawing increased attention and horror. On Wednesday, a United Nations commission released a report calling the Russian drone attacks crimes against humanity.
“They are killing ordinary civilian people, just elderly people, children, those who are waiting at the bus stop — they are killing them, they are taking videos of that and they are putting them online on their Telegram channels,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration.
“They are calling it a ‘safari,’ and they are just laughing at it and there is nothing we can do to combat the drones.”
Prokudin spoke to The Hill from the basement of one of Kherson’s new municipal workspaces, part of a new city plan to move all essential services — hospitals, schools, government offices — underground. Nine hospitals are underground at the moment, with plans to build another 12.
Kherson is one of five regions Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the United States — and the broader international community — to recognize as sovereign Russian territory as part of any peace deal. President Trump’s top envoy for negotiations, Steve Witkoff, has not rejected the possibility outright.
There’s a growing recognition in Ukraine that liberating the occupied territories by force is not achievable. While 82 percent of Ukrainians said in 2022 that Ukraine should not give up any of its territories even if it prolongs the war, in March of this year, that number fell to 50 percent.
For Kherson, Russian forces on the other side of the Dnieper River outnumber Ukrainian forces by three times, Prokudin said, speaking through a translator.
“But at the same time, they don’t have the strength and ability to turn this manpower into action and retake these territories,” he continued. “But still, we don’t have the manpower and ability to kick them off from our territory.”
Asked about Trump’s efforts to achieve a ceasefire, Prokudin said any pause must be used to prepare for a resumption of the war.
“If it happens, we prepare to war,” he said in English.
The population of Kherson has plummeted amid the war. About 150,000 people live in the de-occupied region, down from a prewar level of 500,000.
Other measures the city is taking to protect remaining residents include bomb shelters spread out among the sidewalks, particularly at gathering points such as bus stops and around the train station.
Zarina Zabrisky is an American journalist working in Ukraine, who moved to Kherson to report and produce a documentary on the drone attacks.
Zabrisky spoke to The Hill over Zoom from the U.S., but she said she spends about 70 percent of her time in Kherson. She said she fell in love with the city while reporting there after Ukrainian forces liberated the right bank of the river.
“The people are unbelievable, they are very down to earth,” she said, describing locals as passionate, artistic, and blunt.
"If they don’t like something, they tell you right to your face. If they like you or love you, they suffocate you in an embrace.”
Writing for the Byline Times and the Euromaidan Press, Zabrisky said when she first started reporting the drone attacks in July 2024, editors were in disbelief.
“At that point, only the publication I worked for would believe me. Other editors would say, 'That’s not possible.' It took me until October to get it out to other publications.”
Stories about the “human safaris” appeared in The Kyiv Independent at that time, and in December, the Financial Times reported on the civilian “target practice.”
Prokudin said that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 drone attacks per week across the region under Ukrainian control, an area of roughly 390 square miles.
The U.N. commission documented drone attacks against civilians in the city of Kherson and 16 other localities stretching over 60 miles in riverfront areas under Ukrainian control.
Almost 150 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured, the commission wrote.
Radio and electrical defense systems help to combat about 80 percent of the drones, but Russia is constantly innovating, changing the frequencies to bypass the defenses, Prokudin said.
Other defense measures include shooting at the drones with small guns and shotguns, and putting up netting to try to disrupt their flight. Some of the drones drop explosives, while others fly kamikaze missions, crashing into their target and exploding.
The daily terror makes Kherson one of the most difficult places to live, which the commission report said is Russia’s intention.
Prokudin said most of the people who stay in the region are elderly, with no desire to move or start a new life as a refugee. Any young people are likely working for the government.
Among them is 23-year-old Victoria Maryshchuk, who works in the press office for the military administration of the city. She spent nearly nine months under Russian occupation following Putin’s initial full-scale invasion in February 2022.
She’s had to move apartments five times over nearly two years because of Russian shelling. But she decided it was important to stick around.
“After the liberation, I realized something important: A city only lives if its people stay,” she said.
“If everyone leaves, Kherson will become an empty target — even a ghost. And I understand that’s exactly what the Russians want as they shell us, to make us run so they can try to come back.”
Maryshchuk can relate to those still living under Russian occupation, and she hopes they can eventually feel the joy of being liberated.
“It’s just really difficult to explain to people how was it, but it’s just a feeling that you are not free,” she said of life under Russia’s control.
In September 2022, when Russia carried out a referendum in the occupied territories — that was dismissed internationally as illegal and carried out under duress — Maryshchuk said she and her family hid in their home to avoid being forced to vote.
“I remember very well that feeling of fear,” she said. “We knew their referendum was illegal, and we believed that Ukraine would liberate us anyway — so we simply waited.”
Two months later, Ukrainian forces retook the territory. But the threat of Russia remains at the doorstep.
“If they stay on the left bank of Kherson region, one day or another they will shell Kherson again,” she said. “So of course we want to be liberated, all our region be liberated, developed, and we will celebrate our victory.”
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