The United Nations reported on Tuesday that 9,444 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on 24 February 2022. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its latest civilian casualty update that another 16,940 civilians have been injured during this period.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” the report stated.
Between August 1-13 alone, the UN recorded 258 civilian casualties, including 48 killed and 210 injured. Over 80% of these casualties occurred in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.
OHCHR spokesperson Jane Smith said the rise in casualties has been driven by “explosive weapons with wide area effects,” which accounted for 98% of the casualties documented in the first two weeks of August.
“207 casualties (36 killed and 171 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred,” the report said about explosive weapons.
Since the war began, the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts have seen the highest number of civilian deaths, with over 4,200 killed there so far. But civilian casualties have occurred across Ukraine.
“In other regions, there have been 3,134 killed and 7,830 injured,” the UN report stated.
According to the OHCHR report, more than half of the civilian casualties have been in territory controlled by Russia.
“5,076 casualties (2,105 killed and 2,971 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred,” it said.
The UN cautioned that its numbers are likely an undercount, given the challenges of verifying information from active war zones.
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