From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 28 August 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 13,718 civilian casualties in the country: 5,663 killed and 8,055 injured. This included:
- a total of 5,663 killed (2,195 men, 1,512 women, 149 girls, and 178 boys, as well as 38 children and 1,591 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 8,055 injured (1,652 men, 1,222 women, 177 girls, and 239 boys, as well as 207 children and 4,558 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 7,735 casualties (3,358 killed and 4,377 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 6,211 casualties (3,044 killed and 3,167 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,524 casualties (314 killed and 1,210 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: 5,983 casualties (2,305 killed and 3,678 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 7,735 casualties (3,358 killed and 4,377 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 28 August 2022(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 28 August 2022, OHCHR recorded 1,063 civilian casualties:
- 268 killed (73 men, 71 women, 3 girls, 5 boys, and 116 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 795 injured (198 men, 167 women, 20 girls, 17 boys, as well as 14 children and 379 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 205 killed and 578 injured in 116 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (74 percent of the total); and
- 63 killed and 217 injured in 8 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (26 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 262 killed and 751 injured (95 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 6 killed and 44 injured (5 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.