Civilian casualties from February 24, when Russia launched a war against Ukraine, to August 28 amounted to 13,718 civilians (a week earlier – 13,477), including 5,663 dead (5,587), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported in Monday.
“The majority of reported civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the document notes on UN data.
This applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region), Lysichansk, Popasnaya and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where numerous civilian deaths or injuries were reported.
According to confirmed UN data, 2,195 men, 1,512 women, 178 boys and 149 girls died, while the sex of 38 children and 1,591 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 8,055 injured were 239 boys and 177 girls, as well as 207 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to August 21, 3 children died and 13 more were injured.
If earlier the OHCHR report on the number of casualties was published daily, and then only on weekdays, since July it has become a weekly one. In this report, as in the previous one, data are also given by months.
According to them, March remains the deadliest month for civilians, with a minimum of 3,182 deaths. In April, according to an OHCHR publication, the number of civilian deaths due to the war fell to 681; in May, to 462; and for the four weeks of August – 268, the UN points out.
At the same time, the number of wounded in July – 1099 – was higher than in June and May – respectively 1029 and 1016, but lower than April and March – respectively 1254 and 2400. Since the beginning of August, 795 people have been injured.
According to the report, in the four weeks of August, 262 people were killed and 751 injured by explosive weapons with a wide area of effect, while mines and explosive remnants of war killed 6 and injured 44 people (5% of the total casualties).
The summary has traditionally stated that the increase in figures from the previous summary should not be attributed only to cases after August 21, since during this period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
