Footage shows the drone circling the 52-year-old man for several seconds as he tended his stall, before diving towards him and exploding.
He survived, suffering shrapnel wounds and bruising, and is receiving medical treatment.
"The man on the footage shows no sign of involvement in military activity. He is simply trading at the market. Yet he remains a target for the soldiers of the aggressor state," Ukrainian police said.
Verification by the BBC traced the location to a market area near a roundabout in northern Kherson's Tavriiskyi district, not far from the front line.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike, saying Russian forces had "even admitted to the crime, showing zero regret and openly boasting about tormenting people."
He said such attacks happen daily in Kherson and called for the world to see the evidence "that Russia has gone mad."
Zelensky argued that ending Russia's "campaign against human life" in Ukraine required sustained pressure on Moscow, the dismantling of its capacity for aggression, and credible security guarantees.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha separately described the strike as a "barbaric war crime" demanding international condemnation and accountability, calling it part of "a deliberate and systemic Russian strategy."
Attacks of this kind have become a recurring feature of life in the city.
A UN report last year documented Russian forces repeatedly killing and wounding civilians in the area using drones, and found that publishing footage of such attacks online constitutes a war crime in itself, amounting to an outrage upon personal dignity.
(ał)
Source: PAP, RMF24, BBC