From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 18 September 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 14,532 civilian casualties in the country: 5,916 killed and 8,616 injured. This included:
- a total of 5,916 killed (2,306 men, 1,582 women, 156 girls, and 188 boys, as well as 35 children and 1,649 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 8,616 injured (1,810 men, 1,327 women, 187 girls, and 259 boys, as well as 217 children and 4,816 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,222 casualties (3,540 killed and 4,682 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 6,527 casualties (3,171 killed and 3,356 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,695 casualties (369 killed and 1,326 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: 6,310 casualties (2,376 killed and 3,934 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,222 casualties (3,540 killed and 4,682 injured)
Civilian casualties in Ukraine from 24 February to 18 September 2022 (individual cases verified by OHCHR), per month
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 18 September 2022(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 18 September 2022, OHCHR recorded 625 civilian casualties:
- 164 killed (56 men, 37 women, 1 girl, 3 boys, as well as 1 child and 66 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 461 injured (111 men, 76 women, 6 girls, 19 boys, as well as 11 children and 238 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 117 killed and 365 injured in 91 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (77 percent of the total); and
- 47 killed and 96 injured in 8 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (23 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 160 killed and 427 injured (94 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 4 killed and 34 injured (6 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 andnumbers 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.