More than 10,000 civilians have died in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, and about half of the recent deaths have occurred far from the front lines, the UN Human Rights Office.
The mission of human rights of the United Nations in Ukraine, which has dozens of observers in the country, said it expects the real number to be “significantly higher” than the official count, as corroboration work is ongoing.
This includes events in the first months after the invasion, such as the battle for control of Mariupol, where residents reported a high number of civilian deaths.
“Ten thousand civilian deaths is a grim milestone for Ukraine”, said Danielle Bell, who leads the observation mission. “The Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, now entering its 21st month, risks becoming a protracted conflict, the grave human cost of which is painful to imagine.”
The vast majority of deaths have been caused by high-impact explosive weapons, such as projectiles, missiles and cluster munitions, according to the UN.
About half of the deaths in the past three months have occurred far from the front lines, the UN said, attributing this to the use of long-range missiles by Russian forces and the late explosion of abandoned ordnance.
Older people who cannot or do not want to move to safer places make up a disproportionate share of deaths in Ukraine, according to data from the UN.
More than a third of the victims whose age was confirmed were over 60 years old, while this age group constitutes only a quarter of the total population.
Source: Gestion
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