Key facts
- A drone attack in Kherson, Ukraine, injured a street vendor.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the incident a war crime.
- The UN reported a significant increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine.
- Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack on civilians in Gelendzhik.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video surfaced showing a drone attacking a street vendor in the southern city of Kherson. The footage, released by Ukrainian police, depicts a drone pursuing an unidentified man around a van before exploding as he sought cover. Police stated the vendor, in his 50s, survived with shock and shrapnel injuries. Sybiha, posting on Telegram, characterized the attack as part of a deliberate Russian campaign to intimidate civilians and called for international condemnation and a robust defense package for Ukraine.
Separately, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov reported that overnight Russian guided bomb strikes on the northern city of Sumy resulted in the deaths of two children and an elderly woman. The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine documented 1,396 civilian deaths and 7,978 injuries in the first six months of 2026, a 37% increase from the previous year, attributing the surge to intensified Russian long-range missile and drone strikes on urban centers. Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of terrorism following a drone attack on its Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik, which it claims killed seven people, including three children, and injured 60. Both nations deny targeting civilians in the ongoing conflict.