From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 16 October 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 15,908 civilian casualties in the country: 6,306 killed and 9,602 injured. This included:
- a total of 6,306 killed (2,454 men, 1,688 women, 164 girls, and 197 boys, as well as 36 children and 1,767 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 9,602 injured (2,015 men, 1,470 women, 201 girls, and 283 boys, as well as 239 children and 5,394 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,771 casualties (3,738 killed and 5,033 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 6,941 casualties (3,327 killed and 3,614 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,830 casualties (411 killed and 1,419 injured)
- In other regions of Ukraine (the city of Kyiv, and Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, and Zhytomyr regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred: 7,137 casualties (2,568 killed and 4,569 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,771 casualties (3,738 killed and 5,033 injured)
Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes. 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. This concerns, for example, Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties.
Civilian casualties from 1 to 16 October 2022 (individual cases verified by OHCHR)
- 173 killed (64 men, 40 women, 1 girl, 3 boy, as well as 1 child and 64 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- – 507 injured (116 men, 85 women, 4 girls, 13 boys, as well as 15 children and 274 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 147 killed and 451 injured in 86 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (88 percent of the total); and
- 26 killed and 56 injured in 8 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (12 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 164 killed and 487 injured (96 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 9 killed and 20 injured (4 per cent).
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine
Since 2014, OHCHR has been documenting civilian casualties in Ukraine. Reports are based on information that the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) collected through interviews with victims and their relatives; witnesses; analysis of corroborating material confidentially shared with HRMMU; official records; open-source documents, photo and video materials; forensic records and reports; criminal investigation materials; court documents; reports by international and national non-governmental organisations; public reports by law enforcement and military actors; data from medical facilities and local authorities. All sources and information are assessed for their relevance and credibility and cross-checked against other information. In some instances, corroboration may take time. This may mean that conclusions on civilian casualties may be revised as more information becomes available and numbers may change as new information emerges over time. Statistics presented in the current update are based on individual civilian casualty records where the “reasonable grounds to believe” standard of proof was met, namely where, based on a body of verified information, an ordinarily prudent observer would have reasonable grounds to believe that the casualty took place as described.