News Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Ukraine: civilian casualty update 28 August 2023

28 August 2023

Date: 28 August 20231

Civilian casualties from 1 to 27 August 2023

From 1 to 27 August 2023, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 585 civilian casualties in Ukraine:

  • 108 killed (65 men, 34 women, 3 girls, 2 boys, as well as 4 adults whose sex is not yet known), and
  • 477 injured (196 men, 148 women, 9 boys, 7 girls, as well as 3 children and 114 adults whose sex is not yet known).

This included:

  • 87 killed and 416 injured in 109 settlements in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred (86 percent of the total), and
  • 21 killed and 61 injured in 9 settlements in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred (14 percent of the total).

Per type of weapon/incident:

  • Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 104 killed and 465 injured (97 per cent):
    • 494 casualties (86 killed and 408 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred, and
    • 75 casualties (18 killed and 57 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred.
  • Mines and explosive remnants of war: 4 killed and 12 injured (3 per cent):
    • 9 casualties (1 killed and 8 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred, and
    • 7 casualties (3 killed and 4 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred.

Total civilian casualties

From 24 February 2022, which marked the start of the large-scale armed attack by the Russian Federation, to 27 August 2023, OHCHR recorded 26,717 civilian casualties in the country: 9,511 killed and 17,206 injured. This included:

  • 21,603 casualties (7,396 killed and 14,207 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred:
    • In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 10,403 casualties (4,220 killed and 6,183 injured); and
    • In other regions2 : 11,200 casualties (3,176 killed and 8,024 injured).
  • 5,114 casualties (2,115 killed and 2,999 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred:
    • In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 3,494 casualties (780 killed and 2,714 injured); and
    • In other regions3 : 1,620 casualties (1,335 killed and 285 injured).
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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), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties.

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2023.08.27-civilian-casualties-per-type-of-weapon-incident.png
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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 13 August 2023) should not be attributed to civilian casualties that occurred from 14 to 27 August 2023 only, as during these days OHCHR also corroborated casualties that occurred on previous days. Similarly, not all civilian casualties that were reported from 14 to 27 August 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.

[2] The city of Kyiv, and Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, and Zhytomyr regions.

[3] Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia regions

For more information and media requests, please contact:

Liz Throssell: + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Ravina Shamdasani; + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence; + 41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Marta Hurtado: + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org

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