A new shelling tactic: the number of civilian casualties has increased dramatically in Ukraine

Casualties among the civilian population in the frontline regions of Ukraine have increased in recent months. In the Kharkiv region, after the beginning of the offensive of the Russian army, the number of dead increased many times. In Donetsk region, the number of victims in May and June is also the highest since the beginning of the year.

In total, over the past six months, 806 civilians were killed by shelling in the territory controlled by Ukraine, and 3,858 were injured.

The Russian offensive is becoming more and more destructive

In the last months of 2024, the Russia increased the pressure on the front and at the same time increased the attacks on populated areas. The most victims in the first half of 2024 are in the front-line Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions. In the research, we relied on reports from Ukrainian regional administrations, emergency services, the prosecutor’s office, and other agencies.

In the first half of 2024, the highest number of civilian casualties occurred in the Kharkiv region: 220 dead, 1,192 wounded. The number of victims increased sharply in May, when the Russian army began an offensive on Vovchansk from the territory of the Belgorod region. Before it, in 2024, 25 to 36 people died every month in the region. In May, the number of dead was 85—almost three times more than in the previous month (29 people in April). The number of victims also increased by 3.5 times – 481 people were injured in May.

At least 300 aerial bombs were dropped on the small town of Vovchansk, in the middle of which the front line is now passing, during two months of active offensive, the Ukrainian military says. “The streets are on fire. Street after street is being erased from the face of the earth. Everything around is in ruins,” a woman evacuated from Vovchan told the UN staff. “Blood was all over my face, so I don’t know if there was anything left in the apartment. The scotch tape on our windows didn’t help at all,” a 66-year-old woman from the village of Lukyantsi, which is now captured by the Russian army, recalled the flight.

The bloodiest shelling occurred on May 25, when a Russian bomber dropped an aerial bomb on the construction hypermarket “Epicentr”, which is located on the outskirts of Kharkiv, closest to the Russian border. 19 people died in the burning building, 54 were injured.

The second place in terms of the number of victims is the Donetsk region. In six months, 237 people were killed and 798 wounded in the territory controlled by Ukraine. Although there are fewer victims in this region than in the Kharkiv region, their share in the population is even higher. According to the estimates of the local authorities, in April the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region was home to about half a million people – about five times less than the Kharkiv region.

By June 2024, 27 to 41 people died in Donetsk region per month. In June, the number of victims increased to 61, and 247 people were injured. However, the largest strike in six months was carried out by Russian troops with S-300 missiles on January 6: 11 people were killed and 10 injured.

In third place in terms of the number of victims is the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region on the right bank of the Dnieper. After the retreat of the Russian army in 2022, this region is constantly under fire. In six months, 103 people died there, 554 were injured. In June, a 102-year-old woman suffered an explosive injury, shrapnel injuries to her torso and limbs as a result of an airplane landing at a private house.

In other front-line and border regions, there were fewer casualties. In the Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, less than 50 people died in six months.

In total, in the first six months of 2024, at least 806 people were killed and 3,858 people were injured by shelling and mines on the territory under the control of Ukraine. According to his preliminary data, 743 people were killed and 2,964 wounded in the first half of the year in controlled Ukraine. During the entire time of the full-scale invasion “from February 24, 2022 to July 1 of this year,” according to the UN, 8,729 civilians were killed and 18,907 were injured in the territory controlled by Ukraine. During the same period, according to the UN, 2,555 people were killed and 3,687 were injured in the territory of Ukraine occupied by Russia.