Civilian casualties in Ukraine reach 10-month high in April, UN finds
on Google
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed more civilians in April 2026 than in any month since July 2025, according to a United Nations report published May 13 and presented at a Security Council meeting on May 18.
At least 238 civilians were killed and 1,404 were injured in Ukraine in April 2026, making it the deadliest month for civilians since the previous July, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported.
The casualty toll marks an 18% increase from April 2025 and a 13% increase from March 2026.
The primary driver of civilian casualties were Russian long-range drone and missile attacks. These strikes accounted for 43% of total casualties, with most victims living in towns and cities far from the front lines. The number of victims of such attacks rose by 38% from the previous month.
Attacks near the front lines accounted for 54% of civilian victims in April. Artillery shelling, rocket attacks, drone strikes, and aerial bombardments killed 139 people and injured 744 others.
Short-range drones alone killed 80 civilians and injured 481. These weapons harmed more civilians in April than in any other month since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ninety-six percent of the casualties occurred in territory under Ukrainian control, with victims in 16 regions and in the capital, Kyiv. The cities with the highest casualty counts in April were Kherson, Dnipro, Nikopol, and Odesa.
April saw a series of Russian mass aerial attacks against Ukraine, as the country faced a critical shortage of air defense missiles. An overnight assault on April 17 killed at least 17 people and injured over 100 in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Odesa.
Shortly after the April 17 strike, Pope Leo XIV expressed his solidarity for Ukraine amid Russia's escalating attacks against civilians.
