Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, over 12,600 civilians have lost their lives, according to a UN report.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has confirmed that since February 2022, as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, 12,605 civilians have died and 29,178 have been injured.

This is stated in a report by the mission.

According to the report, the vast majority of deaths and injuries among civilians (89%), as well as the destruction of educational and medical institutions (93%), were recorded in areas controlled by Ukraine.

In January, the primary cause of civilian deaths was small-radius drones, particularly FVP drones, which caused more casualties than any other weapon. Specifically, in the Kherson region, under Ukrainian control, 70% of the fatalities were victims of such drones.

As a result of several shellings in Zaporizhzhia on January 8, 18, and 23, 17 civilians were killed, and 176 were injured, significantly impacting the overall death toll for January.

The majority of the deceased and injured (81%) were recorded near the front line, particularly in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions.

The report emphasizes that the actual scale of losses among the civilian population and infrastructure damage may be significantly higher. This is attributed to difficulties in data verification due to limited access to affected areas.

It is noted that the data regarding the number of casualties in cities such as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk region) may be particularly underestimated, where intense fighting took place at the onset of the full-scale invasion.

Background. Previously, Mind reported that the UN monitoring mission on human rights in Ukraine stated that in July of this year, the number of civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine was the highest since October 2022. In July, as a result of attacks, at least 219 civilians were killed and 1,018 were injured.