The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for an urgent ceasefire on Tuesday, following a series of large-scale Russian missile and drone attacks on densely populated Ukrainian cities. The attacks have resulted in significant civilian casualties and damage to protected infrastructure, reinforcing concerns over violations of international humanitarian law.

In a statement released from Geneva, the OHCHR reported that at least 139 civilians have been killed and 791 injured so far in July, following successive waves of missile and drone strikes by Russian forces. These attacks have reached far beyond the frontlines, targeting urban centers such as Chernivtsi, Lviv and Cherkasy, and have involved unprecedented use of loitering munitions and long-range drones.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), which conducted field visits to the sites, reported that the strikes hit residential buildings, schools, and medical institutions, including the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, a facility that provides specialized pediatric treatment for critical illnesses. The hospital attack alone resulted in at least two deaths and injuries to over 30 people, many of whom were children.

Beyond the immediate death toll, the OHCHR raised fresh concerns over the treatment of prisoners of war. Since early June, UN investigators have interviewed nearly 140 recently released Ukrainian POWs, many of whom reported systematic torture, including beatings, electric shocks, and sexual violence. Russian POWs also described ill-treatment during the early stages of captivity. Ukrainian authorities have initiated investigations into several of these cases. The High Commissioner urged Russia and Ukraine to commit to a full exchange of prisoners of war. 

The OHCHR noted that these strikes raise serious concerns about either the deliberate targeting of civilian objects or the failure to take precautions to avoid such outcomes, both of which are prohibited under Article 51 and Article 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions. According to the latest OHCHR civilian casualty report, June 2025 has been the month with the highest number of civilian casualties in three years, with 232 killed and over 1300 civilians injured. Since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, HRMMU has recorded deaths of at least 13,580 civilians, including 716 children, and 34,115 civilians injured. However, the OHCHR noted that actual figures are likely considerably higher due to access restrictions in areas under active hostilities.

Amid ongoing threats to civilian life and the targeting of essential infrastructure, OHCHR renewed its call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for all parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said: “The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine must urgently be halted and work on a lasting peace, in line with international law, must intensify—a peace that ensures accountability for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law.”