From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 7 August 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 12,867 civilian casualties in the country: 5,401 killed and 7,466 injured. This included:
- a total of 5,401 killed (2,081 men, 1,420 women, 147 girls, and 169 boys, as well as 39 children and 1,545 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 7,466 injured (1,511 men, 1,095 women, 157 girls, and 225 boys, as well as 198 children and 4,280 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 7,254 casualties (3,207 killed and 4,047 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 5,907 casualties (2,938 killed and 2,969 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,347 casualties (269 killed and 1,078 injured)
- In other regions of Ukraine (the city of Kyiv, and Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Zhytomyr regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred: 5,613 casualties (2,194 killed and 3,419 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 7,254 casualties (3,207 killed and 4,047 injured)
Civilian casualties in Ukraine from 24 February to 7 August 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 7 August 2022(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 7 August 2022, OHCHR recorded 269 civilian casualties:
- 62 killed (16 men, 17 women, 1 girl, and 28 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 207 injured (64 men, 44 women, 2 girls, 4 boys, as well as 3 children and 90 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 44 killed and 122 injured in 40 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (62 percent of the total); and
- 18 killed and 85 injured in 7 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (38 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 62 killed and 189 injured (93 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 18 injured (7 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.