UN rights office confirms over 1200 civilian casualties in Ukraine News
© WikiMedia (OHCHR)
UN rights office confirms over 1200 civilian casualties in Ukraine

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Monday confirmed that there have been 1,207 civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24. Of the 1,207 casualties, 406 were killed and 801 injured.

The numbers reflect casualties that occurred between February 24 and March 6. According to the report, most of the civilian casualties recorded resulted from “the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.” The report also provided region-wide details of the casualties. There have 528 casualties in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, 394 in the government-controlled territories and 134 in the self-proclaimed “republics.”

OHCHR believes that the real casualty numbers are considerably higher, especially in government-controlled regions such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, which are experiencing intense hostilities. For instance, in the town of Volnovakha, there are allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties. The casualty numbers may spike once these allegations are confirmed.

In a statement to the UN Human Rights Council Saturday, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a new and dangerous chapter in world history.” She also reported that since the invasion, more than two million people have been displaced from their homes and commended countries that have welcomed refugees.