Arabic – Main Navigation OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office and the mechanisms we support work on a wide range of human rights topics. Learn more about each topic, see who’s involved, and find the latest news, reports, events and more.
Arabic – Main Navigation OHCHR
Arabic – Main Navigation OHCHR
Learn about how you can report a human rights violation.
Arabic – Main Navigation OHCHR
Get the latest from our news, events and meetings.
Arabic – Main Navigation OHCHR
UN Human Rights welcomes your queries.
Get Involved
News Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
03 January 2023
News
News
News
December 2022 1
From 1 to 31 December 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 801 civilian casualties in Ukraine:
This included:
Per type of weapon/incident:
Total civilian casualties from 24 February 2022 to 2 January 2023
From 24 February 2022 to 2 January 2023, OHCHR recorded 17,994 civilian casualties in Ukraine: 6,919 killed and 11,075 injured.
Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes.
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), Izium (Kharkiv region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine
Since 2014, OHCHR has been documenting civilian casualties in Ukraine. Reports are based on information that the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) collected through interviews with victims and their relatives; witnesses; analysis of corroborating material confidentially shared with HRMMU; official records; open-source documents, photo and video materials; forensic records and reports; criminal investigation materials; court documents; reports by international and national non-governmental organisations; public reports by law enforcement and military actors; data from medical facilities and local authorities. All sources and information are assessed for their relevance and credibility and cross-checked against other information. In some instances, corroboration may take time. This may mean that conclusions on civilian casualties may be revised as more information becomes available and numbers may change as new information emerges over time. Statistics presented in the current update are based on individual civilian casualty records where the “reasonable grounds to believe” standard of proof was met, namely where, based on a body of verified information, an ordinarily prudent observer would have reasonable grounds to believe that the casualty took place as described.
ENDS
Ukrainian and Russian language versions of this update as they become available, please visit this page.
1/ An increase in figures in this update compared with the previous update (as of 26 December 2022) should not be attributed to civilian casualties that occurred from 27 December 2022 to 2 January 2023 only, as during these days OHCHR also corroborated casualties that occurred on previous days. Similarly, not all civilian casualties that were reported from 27 December 2022 to 2 January 2023 have been included into the above figures. Some of them are still pending corroboration and if confirmed, will be reported on in future updates.
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Ravina Shamdasani + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
VIEW THIS PAGE IN:
Our Work
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the leading United Nations entity in the field of human rights, with a unique mandate to promote and protect all human rights for all people.
Latest
Resources
Connect
Global Social Channels