On the 21st (local time), three days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number of civilians killed in Ukraine, announced by the United Nations, exceeded 8,000. The UN predicted the actual death toll to be much higher.
According to the New York Times (NYT), United Nations observers confirmed 8,006 civilian deaths in Ukraine from the 24th of last year to the 15th of this month. Due to access to battlegrounds and information restrictions, the actual death toll is expected to exceed thousands.
Among the wartime civilian deaths, 487 children were confirmed. Land mines and explosive debris killed 219 people and injured 413 others. The total number of injured was identified as 13,287. It turned out that 90% of the casualties were from indiscriminate Russian airstrikes, missile strikes and shelling.
The region with the highest number of deaths was Mariupol, a battleground recently recaptured from Russia, where about 2,000 people were reported dead. According to the testimony of former prisoners of war, Russian forces in Mariupol collected a truckload of corpses daily.
In addition, six deaths were also reported in Crimea (Krim Peninsula), which Russia forcibly annexed in 2014. Additionally, the United Nations received reports of 30 deaths in Russia as well. However, he said that the facts could not be ascertained because no evidence was provided.
“These are just numbers, but behind every death and injury are human tragedies and countless lives destroyed,” said Mathilda Bogner, head of the UN Observatory in Ukraine, during a video conference with reporters that day.
In this regard, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk criticized the war as a “clear insult” to the UN Charter and international law. At the same time, he called for stronger international action to bring those responsible for human rights violations to trial for war crimes and to pay compensation to victims.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.