The video of a Ukrainian cyclist being targeted and killed by a short-range drone posted – and later deleted – by the Russian military Friday left viewers outraged and shaken. But it’s not the first time that Russian drone operators have been accused of terrorising Ukrainian civilians by deliberately targeting them in “human safaris” denounced as a war crime by an independent UN commission.
First, he freezes, caught off guard. Then the young Ukrainian cyclist begins to backpedal awkwardly, his eyes never leaving the Russian drone that hovers ahead of him. It moves closer, and he swings his leg over the bike and tries to run. He doesn’t make it.