July saw the highest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Friday. Coordinated attacks by Russian forces across Ukraine on July 8, which killed dozens of people in a single day, made last month exceptionally deadly.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. Violations of international humanitarian and human rights law are widespread in the ongoing armed assault. Millions of civilians fear for their lives. People in Ukraine continue to be killed, wounded and deeply traumatized by the violence.
Fighting in Ukraine has increased in the first half of 2024. HRMMU said in a statement that the high number of casualties in July continued an alarming trend of increasing civilian casualties since March 2024.
“The 8 July attack pushed civilian casualty numbers to a height we have not seen in 20 months,” said Danielle Bell, the head of HRMMU. "I truly hope that the July number was an exception and that this trend of increasing civilian casualties will end."
In its monthly update on civilian casualties, the HRMMU said it verified that conflict-related violence killed at least 219 civilians and injured 1,018 in July. At least 71 children were killed or injured in July. The number of civilian casualties in July was the highest since October 2022, when conflict-related violence killed 317 civilians and injured 795.
The pattern of civilian harm in July was similar to previous months, with explosive weapons with wide area effects causing the vast majority of civilian harm, and most of the harm occurring in Ukrainian government-controlled territory.
The single largest number of casualties occurred on July 8, when Russian armed forces launched high-precision missiles against targets in Kyiv City, Dnipro City, Kryvyi Rih and the Kyiv region. In total, these attacks killed at least 43 civilians, including 5 children, and injured 147, including 7 children.
The July 8 attack destroyed or damaged several medical facilities across the country. A missile struck a hospital complex in the city of Kyiv, completely destroying the building of the Toxicology Department of the Okhmatdyt National Children's Hospital and significantly damaging the Center for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery of Ukraine. One hospital worker was killed and at least eight were injured.
According to the HRMMU, a thorough assessment of the impact site, witness testimony and video, including footage of the missile just prior to impact, indicate that the hospital complex was damaged by a direct missile hit and not by falling debris from an air defense intercept.
In June and July, the most intensive offensive military operations by Russian forces shifted from the northern Kharkiv region to the Donetsk region. As a result, verified civilian casualties in the Donetsk region increased from 125 civilians killed or injured in May to 224 in June and 269 in July 2024.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of residents leaving frontline communities in Donetsk in search of safety elsewhere in the country is increasing as the security situation in the region continues to deteriorate.
Those who remain are facing increased humanitarian needs, while humanitarian access to the most affected communities is diminishing due to the prevailing security situation. Of the 450,000 people remaining in Ukraine-controlled parts of the region as of early August, some 62,500, including nearly 3,400 children, are living in areas of active hostilities.
OCHA reports that many civilians in frontline communities, many of whom are elderly and reluctant to leave their homes despite increasing risks, are struggling to meet their basic needs. In some communities, services have been disrupted for months.
On Saturday, UN human rights monitors said they were continuing to gather information on the horrific human toll of an attack on a commercial building in Kostyantynivka, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, on Friday.
Local authorities report that at least 14 people were killed, including 2 girls, and 43 injured in what they say was a missile strike by the Russian Federation Armed Forces on the local "Ekomarket" supermarket, a popular spot for shoppers that also houses a post office branch.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has resulted in an international armed conflict characterized by targeted and disproportionate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, forced displacement, and sexual violence.
People living on the frontlines in the east, south and north of the country - an estimated 3.3 million people - and in the territories occupied by Russia are particularly at risk. The impact of the war is widespread and uneven, with the most vulnerable suffering the most: Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), children and youth, people with illnesses, people with disabilities, the elderly, and LGBTQI+ people.
Since February 2022, more than 35,100 civilian casualties have been recorded by the UN across Ukraine, with more than 11,500 killed and more than 23,600 injured. These figures include more than 2,200 child casualties, the majority of which were caused by shelling, artillery and rocket attacks.
The actual figures are believed to be much higher, as many reports, particularly from certain locations - such as Mariupol and Lysychansk - and from the immediate aftermath of February 24, 2022, are still being verified.
According to the HRMMU, many reports of harm to civilians, particularly from the period immediately after the full-scale armed attack, could not be verified due to the large number of reports and lack of access to the relevant areas.
While the war in Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries in Ukraine, it has also uprooted the lives of millions of Ukrainians, many of whom continue to seek refuge in neighboring countries and around the world. More than 6.5 million Ukrainians have sought refuge abroad, while some 3.5 million remain forcibly displaced within the country.
Russia's continued assault has also compromised Ukraine's economy and devastated the country's energy sector. More than 100 attacks on energy infrastructure since March 2024 have affected energy supplies across the country, causing prolonged power outages for millions of people.
The human rights and humanitarian situation in Ukraine have rapidly deteriorated since Russia's invasion escalated the eight-year conflict in the east into a full-scale war. The devastation and destruction have been staggering.
In 2024, Ukraine faces intensified attacks, resulting in increased civilian casualties and devastation in frontline areas and throughout the country. Escalated attacks on civilian infrastructure are disrupting vital services such as electricity for millions of people and hampering access to health and education.
The killing and wounding of thousands of civilians, including children, the targeting of civilian infrastructure, the disruption of livelihoods and vital services, and the prolonged displacement have created a massive humanitarian and protection crisis, with 14.6 million people - some 40 percent of the population - in need of humanitarian and protection assistance.
In the first half of the year, humanitarian agencies provided at least one form of assistance to 5.6 million people. More than 500 humanitarian organizations, including more than 380 national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), provided assistance. Due to funding constraints, relief agencies were unable to fully meet critical needs.
OCHA and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have launched a combined $4.2 billion appeal to donors to provide assistance through 2024 to some 10.8 million people in war-affected communities in Ukraine, as well as to Ukrainian refugees and their host communities in the region.
This year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) requests US$3.1 billion for 2024 and targets 8.5 million people in the war-torn country. As of August 10, the HNRP is only 38 percent funded.
UNHCR, which coordinates the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), is seeking $1.1 billion this year, targeting 2.3 million refugees and host communities. As of August 10, the RRP is only 8 percent covered by funding.
Further information
Full text: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict — July 2024, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, report, release August 9, 2024
https://ukraine.un.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/Ukraine%20-%20protection%20of%20civilians%20in%20armed%20conflict%20%28July%202024%29_ENG.pdf