Ukraine records highest civilian casualties in three years in July – UN

This is the highest figure since May 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (HRMMU) said.

Victims were confirmed in 18 out of 24 regions. According to the head of the IHRLM, Danielle Belle, a three-year high in deaths and injuries has been recorded for the second month in a row.

Only in the first three months after the start of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, there were more dead and wounded than in the last month," she emphasised.

About 40 per cent of the casualties were caused by strikes with long-range weapons - missiles and barrage munitions. The highest number of casualties in the capital during the full-scale invasion occurred on 31 July: 31 people were killed and another 171 suffered as a result of rocket and drone attacks on Kiev.

Another 24 per cent of casualties were related to short-range drone attacks - 64 dead and 337 wounded. The largest increase in casualties was recorded from aerial bombs: 67 people were killed and 209 wounded in July, compared to 34 dead and 80 wounded in June.

The UN notes that most of the casualties in July occurred in areas near the front line controlled by the Ukrainian Government, which is linked to active attempts by Russian troops to advance.