From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 30 October 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 16,295 civilian casualties in the country: 6,430 killed and 9,865 injured. This included:
- a total of 6,430 killed (2,511 men, 1,716 women, 167 girls, and 201 boys, as well as 34 children and 1,801 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 9,865 injured (2,107 men, 1,515 women, 205 girls, and 292 boys, as well as 242 children and 5,504 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,996 casualties (3,833 killed and 5,163 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 7,103 casualties (3,404 killed and 3,699 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,893 casualties (429 killed and 1,464 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: 7,299 casualties (2,597 killed and 4,702 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,996 casualties (3,833 killed and 5,163 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 30October 2022(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 30 October 2022, OHCHR recorded 1,043 civilian casualties:
- 274 killed (110 men, 51 women, 1 girl, 4 boys, as well as 108 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 769 injured (207 men, 129 women, 7 girls, 20 boys, as well as 18 children and 388 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 231 killed and 672 injured in 116 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (87 percent of the total); and
- 43 killed and 97 injured in 12 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (13 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 259 killed and 731 injured (95 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 15 killed and 38 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.