At least 10,582 civilians have been killed and nearly 20,000 have been injured since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Feb. 22.
The figure of 10,582, which includes 587 children, consists of civilian deaths verified according to UN methodology. The HRMMU stressed that the actual number of those killed and injured is likely to be significantly higher.
"The long-term impact of this war in Ukraine will be felt for generations," UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said.
The UN notes that while the casualty numbers gradually decreased over the course of 2022 and 2023, they remained high, with an average of 163 civilians killed and 547 injured per month in 2023.
The vast majority of civilian casualties, totaling 91 percent, resulted from explosive weapons with wide area effects. Mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) accounted for 3.7 percent of these casualties, with the remaining percentage attributed to other weapons and incidents.
In the two-year period, attacks with explosive weapons also damaged or destroyed hundreds of educational and medical facilities. HRMMU has recorded that hostilities affected 1,072 educational facilities (236 destroyed and 836 damaged) and 465 medical facilities (59 destroyed and 406 damaged) since Feb. 24, 2022.
Dmytro Basmat
