Civilian casualties in Ukraine three times higher in last 500 days compared to previous 8 years – UN

Three times as many civilians were killed in the last 500 days as during the entire previous 8 years of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In particular, the UN mission was able to confirm that more than 9,000 civilians, including over 500 children, had been killed since Russia’s February 24, 2022 attack, but it cautioned that the real number could be much higher.

“Today we mark another grim milestone in the war that continues to exact a horrific toll on Ukraine’s civilians,” Noel Calhoun, the deputy head of HRMMU, said.

The HRRMU noted that overall monthly casualty figures decreased earlier this year comparing to 2022, but in May and June the average number of casualties went up again.

The UN mission cited the recent deadly attack on June 27 when 13 civilians, including four children, died in an early evening missile strike on a busy shopping area in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. Among those who perished in the Kramatorsk attack was Viktoriia Amelina, a Ukrainian writer and human rights defender, who succumbed to her injuries earlier this week.

Just days later another missile strike claimed 10 civilian lives in the western city of Lviv, making the last two weeks some of the deadliest since the Russian invasion began.