Civilian casualties from February 24, 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, to May 21, 2023, totaled 24,012 (23,821 a week earlier), including 8,895 deaths (8,836), 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.
The UN confirmed that 4,040 men, 2,403 women, 275 boys and 218 girls were killed, while the gender of 30 children and 1,929 adults could not yet be determined.
Among the 15,117 wounded are 445 boys and 314 girls, and 276 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to May 14, two children were killed and seven others were wounded.
Whereas previously the OHCHR’s update on casualty figures was issued daily, and then only on weekdays, it became a weekly update in July. This report, like the previous one, provides data by month.
According to them, the number of deaths since the beginning of May was 133, compared with 180 in April, 181 in March, 142 in February, 199 in January, 206 in December and 187 in November.
The deadliest month for civilians, the UN points out, remains March of last year, with a minimum of 4,118 deaths. In April-2022, according to an OHCHR publication, the number of civilian deaths due to the war dropped to 804, in May to 535, in June to 428 and in July to 381. In the first five days of the war from February 24-28, 362 people died, in August 336, in September 398 and in October 305.
The number of wounded in the 21 days of May was 466, compared with 494 in April, 592 in March, 457 in February, 539 in January, 617 in December, and 541 in November. In October, the number of injured dropped to 795 from 981 in September, when it was up from 917 in August. Before that the number of wounded had exceeded a thousand each month: July – 1,129, June – 1,105, May – 1,138, April – 1,891, March – 2,990. In the first five days of the war last February, 465 people were wounded.
According to the report, in the first three weeks of May this year, large-area explosive weapons killed 122 people and wounded another 431, while mines and explosive remnants of war killed 11 people and wounded 35 (8 percent of total casualties).
Government-controlled territories accounted for 83 percent of the casualties in May, 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 May 14, because during that period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
Former Turkish presidential candidate Sinan Ogan of the ATA (Ancestral Alliance) alliance on Monday expressed support ahead of the second round for current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Hürriyet newspaper reported.
Ogan, who finished third in the first round of the presidential election and consequently dropped out of further competition, urged his supporters on Sunday to vote for Erdogan.
The second round of the presidential election will be held on May 28. Current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), have entered it.
In the first round, Erdoğan received 49.52% of the vote, while Kılıçdaroğlu received 44.88%.
Ogan has about 5%, so experts noted that, given these results, in the second round it is very important to see who this former candidate will support.
Earlier, the Club of Experts analyzed the chances of candidates in the Turkish elections and gave a forecast of the situation. The video is available at the link:
Turkish citizens living abroad have begun the voting process in the second round of presidential elections. A total of 156 polling stations were opened in 73 countries around the world.
Note that only in Germany there are about one and a half million registered Turkish voters.
In the second round of elections, Turkey’s incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a single opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are represented. Turkish citizens at overseas polling stations can cast their votes until May 24.
In Rome, the Italian capital, Turkish voters lined up in front of the embassy despite inclement weather. Voting points will be available from May 20 to 22 at the embassy in Rome and at the consulate general in Milan.
Votes cast in favor of candidates in Madrid and Barcelona will be delivered to Turkey on regular Turkish Airlines flights under the supervision of diplomatic couriers, Turkish media reported.
In Turkey itself, the second round of elections is scheduled for Sunday, May 28. In the first round, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won four and a half percentage points more than his main rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
Earlier, the Club of Experts analyzed the chances of the candidates in the Turkish elections and gave a forecast of the development of the situation. The video is available at the link:
The world’s leading manufacturer of custom microchips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. regained the title of Asia’s most expensive company, overtaking TencentHoldings Ltd.
Since the beginning of this year, shares of TSMC gained 18.4% and 7.2% over the last five days. The company is now capitalized at NT$13.8 trillion ($450 billion), according to Market Watch.
TSMC increased net income in the first quarter of 2023 by 2.1% over the same period last year and revenue by 3.6%. The figures, however, were 30% and 19% lower than in the previous quarter.
Nevertheless, experts expect that the active development of the sphere of artificial intelligence will contribute to the growth on advanced chips produced by TSMC.
The capitalization of Tencent, which recently held the first place in the list of the largest Asian companies, increased by 7.4% this year and remained virtually unchanged over the past month amid the slow recovery of the Chinese economy. Tencent is now capitalized at HK$3.17 trillion ($405 billion).
Prices for extra virgin olive oil are at record highs, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to the IMF, the price of olive oil reached $6269.63 per ton in April, 46% higher than a year earlier.
New Jersey-based Filippo Berio, one of the world’s largest olive oil producers, said last season was “record-breakingly difficult” because the olive crop was the lowest in 30 years, writes Barron’s.
Last year’s drought in Spain, which accounts for about 40% of global production of olive oil, also contributed to the price increase. The summer of 2022 in Spain was a record hot and one of the driest in history.
According to the March forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture of Spain, the olive harvest in the current season will produce only about 680 thousand tons of olive oil at an average of 1.37 million tons over the past five years, the publication Olive Oil Times.
Spain has turned to the European Union for emergency resources to help farmers. In Italy, olive harvests are also a cause for concern.
Studies by Spanish and Portuguese scientists show that climate change could seriously hamper olive cultivation in key production regions, Barron’s notes.