From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation's armed attack against Ukraine started, to 23 October 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 16,150 civilian casualties in the country: 6,374 killed and 9,776 injured. This included:
- a total of 6,374 killed (2,488 men, 1,700 women, 167 girls, and 201 boys, as well as 34 children and 1,784 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 9,776 injured (2,078 men, 1,494 women, 204 girls, and 289 boys, as well as 242 children and 5,469 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,899 casualties (3,788 killed and 5,111 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 7,031 casualties (3,365 killed and 3,666 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 1,868 casualties (423 killed and 1,445 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: 7,251 casualties (2,586 killed and 4,665 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 8,899 casualties (3,788 killed and 5,111 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 23October 2022(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 23 October 2022, OHCHR recorded 908 civilian casualties:
- 230 killed (94 men, 44 women, 1 girl, 4 boys, as well as 87 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 678 injured (178 men, 109 women, 6 girls, 17 boys, as well as 18 children and 350 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 193 killed and 600 injured in 102 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (87 percent of the total); and
- 37 killed and 78 injured in 8 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: 218 killed and 652 injured (96 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 12 killed and 26 injured (4 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.
