Translated with AI
The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine in 2025 reached its highest level since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) in its monthly report.
According to the HRMMU, 2,514 civilians were killed and another 12,142 were injured as a result of military violence over the past year. This is a 31 percent increase compared to 2024. Almost two-thirds of all those killed lived in frontline regions, where the fighting was most intense. UN experts attribute the increase in casualties to the intensification of hostilities and the increased use of long-range weapons.
The deadliest long-range attack by the Russian Armed Forces in 2025 was the strike on Ternopil on November 19. According to HRMMU estimates, at least 38 civilians, including eight children, were killed. Another 99 people, including 17 children, were wounded.
According to the UN Monitoring Mission, the elderly remain a particularly vulnerable category of citizens. In frontline areas, people aged 60 and over accounted for almost half (45 percent) of the fatalities, although their share of the overall population of Ukraine does not exceed a quarter.
HRMMU Chairperson Danielle Bell emphasized that the use of short-range drones renders many frontline areas "virtually uninhabitable." In these communities, infrastructure is destroyed, public services are disrupted, and providing emergency medical care or evacuating civilians becomes extremely dangerous.
It is noted that the situation remains critical, particularly in border and frontline areas, where residents face daily threats to life and health, as well as the destruction of homes and social infrastructure. The HRMMU continues to document human rights violations and the impact of military action on the civilian population.
