Ukraine sees significant increase in civilian casualties, human rights violations in recent months – UN
There has been a significant escalation in recent months in civilian casualties and human rights violations in Ukraine amid intensified fighting and evolving tactics of warfare, including a sharp rise in often deadly drone attacks.
This is stated in a new report by the UN Human Rights Office, published on Monday.
The report, covering the period from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025, highlights a 37 per cent increase in civilian casualties compared to the same period the previous year, with 968 civilians killed and 4,807 injured. The majority of these casualties occurred in areas controlled by the Government of Ukraine, primarily as a result of attacks by Russian armed forces using long-range explosive weapons in populated areas and short-range drones near frontline areas.
Nearly half of all civilian casualties were caused by missiles, loitering munitions, and air-dropped bombs in densely populated areas. In at least three attacks, Russian armed forces deployed missiles with fragmentation warheads that detonated above ground, scattering fragments across large open areas, killing and injuring many civilians at once.
"The war in Ukraine - now in its fourth year - is becoming increasingly deadly for civilians," said Danielle Bell, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
The report finds that the use of short-range drones is driving the rise in civilian casualties. The Office verified that 207 civilians were killed and 1,365 injured by these attacks. In one of the deadliest incidents, a Russian drone strike on a civilian bus transporting employees of a mining company to work in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed 8 women and 2 men and injured 57 other civilians.
"The high number of civilian casualties from the use of short-range drones, which allow operators to see their targets in real time, raises grave concerns," Bell said. "Our findings strongly suggest a failure to distinguish between civilian and military targets, and to take all feasible precautions to verify the military nature of those targets - or worse, an intentional decision not to," she added.
In the period under review, Russian armed forces struck at least five hospitals directly, some of them with multiple loitering munitions, suggesting potential deliberate targeting of the hospitals in violation of international humanitarian law.
Serious violations against prisoners of war (POWs) remain a major concern. The Human Rights Office documented credible allegations that at least 35 Ukrainian POWs and one Russian POW were executed.
The Office interviewed 117 recently released Ukrainian POWs and two detained medical personnel, nearly all of whom described being tortured and ill-treated in Russian captivity. Survivors detailed severe beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, dog attacks, and deliberate humiliation, often at the hands of personnel wearing balaclavas to conceal their identities.
The report highlights ongoing human rights concerns with Ukrainian civilians unlawfully detained by the Russian Federation authorities, predominantly in occupied territory. Released civilians described torture, ill-treatment, and dire conditions of detention.
In occupied territory, Ukrainians faced increased coercion to adopt Russian citizenship. During the six-month period, the Office documented over 16,000 homes listed by Russian occupation authorities as potentially ‘abandoned’ and therefore at risk of being confiscated. Displaced residents faced severe legal and logistical obstacles, as well as security risks, to reclaim their property.