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Ukraine

Ukraine: Civilian casualties as of 24:00, 22 May 2023 [EN/RU/UK]

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Date: 22 May 2023

From 24 February 2022, which marked the start of the large-scale armed attack by the Russian Federation, to 21 May 2023, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 24,012 civilian casualties in the country: 8,895 killed and 15,117 injured. This included:

  • 19,324 casualties (6,910 killed and 12,414 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred:
    o In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 9,766 casualties (4,051 killed and 5,715 injured); and
    o In other regions2 : 9,558 casualties (2,859 killed and 6,699 injured).

  • 4,688 casualties (1,985 killed and 2,703 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred:
    o In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 3,154 casualties (705 killed and 2,449 injured); and
    o In other regions3 : 1,534 casualties (1,280 killed and 254 injured).

OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the 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, Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties.

Civilian casualties from 1 to 21 May 2023 (individual cases verified by OHCHR)

From 1 to 21 May 2023, OHCHR recorded 599 civilian casualties in Ukraine:

  • 133 killed (76 men, 38 women, 4 boys, 1 girl, as well as 14 adults whose sex is not yet known); and
  • 466 injured (182 men, 116 women, 15 boys, 7 girls, as well as 146 adults whose sex is not yet known).

This included:
• 111 killed and 384 injured in 128 settlements in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred (83 percent of the total); and
• 22 killed and 82 injured in 15 settlements in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred (17 percent of the total).

Per type of weapon/incident:

  • Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 122 killed and 431 injured (92 per cent);
  • Mines and explosive remnants of war: 11 killed and 35 injured (8 per cent)