10,000 Civilians in Ukraine Killed Due to Russian Invasion, UN Human Rights Office Monitor: It’s a Grim History

Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - About 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, with about half of the recent deaths occurring far behind the fighting front lines, the UN Human Rights Office said on Tuesday.

The UN human rights mission in Ukraine, which has dozens of monitors, estimates the true number of victims will be "much higher" than the official tally, as verification efforts are ongoing.

This includes events in the first months after the invasion, such as the battle for control of Mariupol, where residents reported high civilian casualties.

"Ten thousand civilian deaths is a grim milestone for Ukraine," said Danielle Bell, who led the monitoring mission, as reported by Reuters, November 22.

"The Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, which is now entering its 21st month, risks developing into a protracted conflict, with enormous human costs," he stressed.

Most of the deaths were caused by high-impact explosive weapons such as bullets, missiles and cluster munitions, the UN said.

Nearly half of the deaths in the past three months occurred far behind the front lines, the UN said, attributing this to the use of long-range missiles by Russian forces and bomb blasts.

UN data shows that elderly people who are unable or unwilling to move to safer places make up a disproportionate share of the dead in Ukraine.

More than a third of confirmed victims are over 60 years old, while this age group makes up only a quarter of the total population.

It is known that Moscow itself has denied from the start that its attacks in Ukraine deliberately targeted civilians.