UN releases update on civilian casualties in Ukraine

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has confirmed more than 16,700 civilian casualties in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

This is said in the organization’s latest update, according to Ukrinform.

“From 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation’s armed attack against Ukraine started, to 20 November 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 16,784 civilian casualties in the country,” the report reads.

This included: a total of 6,595 killed and 10,189 injured civilians, including children both on Ukrainian government-controlled territory and on territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups.

It is noted that 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,” the report says.

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