Aerial bombings cause 15% of civilian deaths, mostly in frontline areas – UN mission

The findings of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine show that powerful aerial bombs dropped by the Russian armed forces caused 15% of all civilian casualties in 2025, with the highest losses in July, when 67 people were killed and 209 injured, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Danielle Bell said in a statement distributed by the mission's press service on Tuesday.

"The Mission also documented that approximately 63 per cent of all civilian casualties in 2025 occurred near the frontline, with disproportionate harm to older persons and persons with disabilities. Over 43 per cent of civilians killed in frontline areas were over 60 years old," the statement reads.

The mission said international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians and requires all feasible precautions to be taken to avoid civilian casualties during hostilities.

"Civilian casualties continue to be concentrated near the frontline, where over 60 per cent of losses occur, with older persons and persons with disabilities disproportionately affected," the document reads.

The UN Monitoring Mission said it continues to collect additional information regarding the alleged Russian airstrike on the village of Yarova, Kramatorsk district, Donetsk region, which is located less than 8 kilometers from the frontline.

As reported, on Tuesday morning, Russian troops carried out an airstrike on a mobile post office of Ukrposhta in the village of Yarova. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously reported that more than 20 people who came to receive pensions were killed. Later, 24 people were reported dead and 19 wounded.