UN says more than 600 Ukrainian civilians killed or injured in March, up 20% from February

At least 604 Ukrainian civilians were killed or injured in March, representing a 20% increase from the previous month, the U.N.'s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said in a report released on April 9.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the U.N. said that at least 10,810 civilians have been killed and at least 20,556 injured.

The increase in March was due to Russia's increasing usage of missiles and loitering munitions across Ukraine, as well as intensified aerial bombardments of population centers by the front line, the U.N. said.

At least 57 children were killed or injured in March, which the U.N. said was particularly the result of Russia's usage of guided and unguided aerial bombs.

The true figure of civilian casualties is likely much higher, the U.N. said.

The number of dead and injured in fighting immediately after the outbreak of the full-scale war has yet to be fully accounted for, and some of the places that saw the heaviest combat in early 2022 are still under Russian occupation, making it all but impossible for outside observers to investigate.

Update: Russian attack on Kostiantynivka on April 9 kills 3, including child

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service retrieved two more bodies under the rubble of an apartment building following a Russian strike on the city of Kostiantynivka on April 9 in Donetsk Oblast, raising the death toll to three, the service said on April 10.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova