From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation's armed attack against Ukraine started, to 15 January 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 18,358 civilian casualties in the country: 7,031 killed and 11,327 injured. This included:
- a total of 7,031 killed (2,784 men, 1,875 women, 177 girls, and 221 boys, as well as 35 children and 1,939 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- a total of 11,327 injured (2,472 men, 1,764 women, 240 girls, and 325 boys, as well as 262 children and 6,264 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 9,853 casualties (4,102 killed and 5,751 injured)
- On Government-controlled territory: 7,685 casualties (3,607 killed and 4,078 injured)
- On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 2,168 casualties (495 killed and 1,673 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: 8,505 casualties (2,929 killed and 5,576 injured)
- In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 9,853 casualties (4,102 killed and 5,751 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 15 January 2023(individual cases verified by OHCHR)
From 1 to 15 January 2023, OHCHR recorded 388 civilian casualties:
- 104 killed (36 men, 21 women, 1 girl, 2 boy, as well as 44 adults whose sex is yet unknown); and
- 284 injured (80 men, 39 women, 6 girls, 4 boys, as well as 8 children and 147 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
This included:
- 95 killed and 254 injured in 58 settlements in regions (parts of regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred (90 percent of the total); and
- 9 killed and 30 injured in 5 settlements in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups (10 percent of the total).
Per type of weapon/incident:
- Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 97 killed and 278 injured (97 per cent);
- Mines and explosive remnants of war: 7 killed and 6 injured (3 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.
