Ukraine: civilian casualty update 11 September 2023

Date: 11 September 2023¹

Civilian casualties from 1 to 10 September 2023

From 1 to 10 September 2023, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 292 civilian casualties in Ukraine:

• 55 killed (29 men, 21 women, 1 girl, as well as 4 adults whose sex is not yet known), and
• 237 injured (101 men, 77 women, 7 boys, 2 girls, as well as 50 adults whose sex is not yet known).

This included:

• 47 killed and 185 injured in 62 settlements in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred (79 percent of the total), and
• 8 killed and 52 injured in 9 settlements in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred (21 percent of the total).

Per type of weapon/incident:

• Explosive weapons with wide area effects: 54 killed and 221 injured (94 per cent):
  • 216 casualties (46 killed and 170 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred, and
  • 59 casualties (8 killed and 51 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred.
• Mines and explosive remnants of war: 1 killed and 16 injured (6 per cent):
  • 16 casualties (1 killed and 15 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred, and
  • 1 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 10 September 2023, OHCHR recorded 27,149 civilian casualties in the country: 9,614 killed and 17,535 injured. This included:

• 21,941 casualties (7,481 killed and 14,460 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred:
  • In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 10,545 casualties (4,262 killed and 6,283 injured); and
  • In other regions² : 11,396 casualties (3,219 killed and 8,177 injured).
• 5,208 casualties (2,133 killed and 3,075 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred:
  • In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 3,581 casualties (794 killed and 2,787 injured); and
  • In other regions³ : 1,627 casualties (1,339 killed and 288 injured).

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.

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