From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 25 September 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 14,844 civilian casualties in the country: 5,996 killed and 8,848 injured. This included:
- a total of 5,996 killed (2,334 men, 1,605 women, 157 girls, and 190 boys, as well as 35 children and 1,675 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 8,848 injured (1,850 men, 1,356 women, 191 girls, and 264 boys, as well as 221 children and 4,966 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,382 casualties (3,591 killed and 4,791 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 6,657 casualties (3,213 killed and 3,444 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,725 casualties (378 killed and 1,347 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: 6,462 casualties (2,405 killed and 4,057 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,382 casualties (3,591 killed and 4,791 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 25 September 2022(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 25 September 2022, OHCHR recorded 897 civilian casualties:
- 216 killed (71 men, 50 women, 2 girls, 4 boys, as well as 1 child and 88 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 681 injured (151 men, 105 women, 10 girls, 24 boys, as well as 15 children and 376 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 160 killed and 564 injured in 120 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (81 percent of the total); and
- 56 killed and 117 injured in 8 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (19 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 210 killed and 637 injured (94 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 6 killed and 44 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.