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UN: war in Ukraine has claimed lives of nearly 10,000 civilians

Civilian casualties from February 24, 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, to September 10, 2023, totaled 27,149 (26,717 as of August 27), including 9,614 deaths (9,511), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) reported.

“The UN OHCHR considers that the actual number of civilian deaths or injuries is significantly higher, as many reports from locations where such incidents have occurred continue to require further confirmation, while information from some locations where fighting continues has been delayed,” the document said regarding the UN data.

This applies, for example, to such localities as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lisichansk, Popasnaya and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where numerous civilian deaths or injuries have been reported.

According to confirmed UN figures, 4,461 men, 2,672 women, 289 boys and 236 girls were killed, while the gender of 29 children and 1,927 adults could not yet be ascertained.

Among the 17,535 injured, 516 boys and 378 girls were killed, while 286 children whose gender could not yet be determined.

Compared to August 27, five children have died and 14 others have been injured.

While the UN OHCHR casualty count summary was previously issued daily, and then only on weekdays, it became weekly from July 2022 and biweekly from the end of May 2023. This summary, like the previous one, provides data by month.

According to them, the UN recorded the deaths of 55 civilians in 10 days in September. In August, the number of new deaths reported dropped to 147 from 161 in July, 186 in June, 174 in May, 182 in April, 181 in March and 144 in February.

The deadliest month for civilians, the UN points out, remains March last year, with a minimum of 4,168 deaths. In April 2022, according to an OHCHR publication, the number of civilian deaths due to war fell to 823 in April, 550 in May, 429 in June and 386 in July. There were 375 deaths in the first five days of the war from February 24 to February 28, 340 in August last year, 408 in September, 310 in October, 188 in November, 206 in December and 201 in January this year.

The number of wounded in the 10 days of September was 237, compared with 565 in August, 688 in July, 679 in June, 685 in May, 492 in April, 592 in March, 457 in February, 538 in January this year, 617 in December and 541 in November last year. In October, the number of injuries dropped to 795 from 983 in September, when it was up from August’s 921. Prior to that the monthly number of wounded exceeded a thousand: July, 1,131; June, 1,109; May, 1,139; April, 1,896; March, 3,001. In the first five days of the war last February, 469 people were wounded.

The UN OHCHR specifies that since the beginning of September, explosive weapons have killed 54 people and injured 170 others, while mines and explosive remnants of war have killed one person and injured 16 (6%).

Government-controlled territories accounted for 79% of casualties in the first 10 days of September, according to the UN.

The summary traditionally states that the increase in figures to the previous summary should not be attributed solely to cases after August 27, as during this period the Office verified a number of cases from the previous days.

Source: https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-11-september-2023

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