Civilians in Ukraine continue to see the deadly ramifications of Russia’s war and the United Nations reported another increase in the number of civilian causalities Monday with more than 7,000 reported as dead or injured.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 7,061 civilian casualties since the onslaught of the invasion on Feb. 24 – a jump from the 6,802 civilian casualties last reported over the weekend.
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The UN said the figure’s increase does not necessarily reflect the number of people killed or injured since the last report but rather includes updated information. Actual casualty figures are expected to be much higher.
Monday’s figures include 3,309 killed and 3,493 injured.
“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes,” the report said.
The UN noted that reporting from areas where there have been numerous allegations of human rights abuses in the eastern and southern parts of the country remains imprecise.
Casualties out of Mariupol in the Donetsk region, Luhansk and Kharkiv are expected to be “considerably higher” than what has been confirmed by the top human rights agency.
But despite incomplete reporting, Donetsk and Luhansk have still seen the greatest number of confirmed civilian causalities with 1,810 killed and 1,884 injured.
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The war has killed 235 Ukrainian children and injured another 346 since fighting began nearly 11 weeks ago.
The U.S. and NATO allies continue to send Ukraine defensive and humanitarian aid, but world leaders are worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s potentially wounded ego means he will continue his lethal campaign.
Russia failed to take the capital city of Kyiv and last month said it would focus its efforts in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Security officials have warned the already deadly war will continue to become increasingly brutal as Putin attempts to annex regions along Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline.
President Biden said Monday he is concerned that Putin “doesn’t have a way out” and will continue his brutal war in an attempt to save face at home.
“I’m trying to figure out what we do about that,” he said speaking from a political fundraiser, first reported Reuters.
