Civilian casualties from Feb. 24, 2022, after Russia launched its war against Ukraine, to March 12, 2023, totaled 2,965 civilians (March 5, 21,793), including 8,231 deaths (8,173), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Monday.
“OHCHR believes that the real number of civilian deaths or injuries is significantly higher, as many reports from places where such cases have occurred continue to require further confirmation, while information from some places where fighting is ongoing is delayed,” the UN data document noted.
This is the case, for example, in such locations as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where numerous civilian deaths or injuries have been reported.
According to confirmed UN figures, 3,664 men, 2,173 women, 260 boys and 203 girls were killed, while the gender of 31 children and 1,900 adults could not yet be determined.
Among the 1,734 wounded, 413 boys and 295 girls, as well as 271 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to March 5, two children were killed and 11 others were wounded.
Whereas previously the OHCHR’s update on the number of casualties was issued daily, and then only on weekdays, it has become weekly since July. This report, like the previous one, provides data by month.
According to them, the number of deaths in February dropped to 138 from 198 in January and 205 in December, but in the first 12 days of March it was 84.
March remains the deadliest month for civilians, according to the UN, with at least 3,968 deaths. In April, according to an OHCHR publication, the number of civilian deaths due to the war dropped to 761, in May to 510, in June to 422 and in July to 378. There were 358 deaths in the first five days of the war from Feb. 24-28, 332 in August, 387 in September, 305 in October and 184 in November.
The number of wounded in February – 451 – was also the lowest since the beginning of the war: in January there were 539, in December – 617, in November – 541, in the first five days of the war last February – 464, and in the 12 days of this March – 209. In October the number of wounded dropped to 795 from 976 in September, when it was higher than the August figure of 917. Prior to that, the number of wounded exceeded a thousand each month: July – 1126, June – 1104, May – 1136, April – 1887, March – 2972.
According to the report, since the beginning of March this year, 72 people have been killed by large-area explosive weapons and another 182 have been wounded, while mines and explosive remnants of war have killed 12 people and wounded 27 (13 percent of total casualties).
Government-controlled territories accounted for 83 percent of the casualties in March, according to the UN.
The summary traditionally states that the increase in numbers to the previous summary should not be attributed only to cases after March 5, as the Office verified a number of cases from previous days during that period.
