UN says 726 civilian deaths recorded in Ukraine since Russian war

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The UN human rights office said Wednesday that it has recorded 1,900 civilian casualties, including 726 deaths, in Ukraine since the start of the Russian war.

“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days,” said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Most of the civilian casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missiles and airstrikes, according to the rights office.

It said receipt of information “from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”

This concerns, for example, Izium in the Kharkiv region, and Mariupol and Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, where there are allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties.

The UN office also said according to a report from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, 103 children have been killed and more than 100 injured by Wednesday.

Russia began its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24. It has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

More than 3 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN.