The UN confirmed the death of almost 7,000 civilians due to Russian aggression

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has confirmed the death of 6,952 people and 11,144 cases of civilian injuries in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale invasion of Russia. These are the data of the organization from February 24, 2022 to January 9.

In the first week of January – from January 1 to January 9 – the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 34 deaths and 101 injuries.

The UN has stressed that the real death toll is much higher because there are delays in receiving information from some places where fighting is ongoing and many reports still need to be confirmed.

“This applies to the settlements of Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region), Lysychansk, Popasna and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where, according to reports, there have been numerous cases of the death or injury of civilians,” the organization adds.

The organization notes that the majority of recorded civilian casualties were caused by the use of large-area explosive weapons, including heavy artillery and rocket launchers, as well as rocket and airstrikes.

Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine on the ground and in the air along the entire length of the common border. The territory of Belarus was used for the invasion of Kyiv region with the intention of capturing the capital. In the south, the Russian army, in particular, occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and in the north – the regions of Sumy region and Chernihiv region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the full-scale invasion a “special operation.” Initially, its goal was defined as “demilitarization and de-Nazification”, later – “protection of Donbas”.

And in September and early October, Russia made an attempt to annex the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions. Ukraine and the West have declared that these actions are illegal. On October 12, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution condemning the Russian Federation’s attempt to annex the occupied territories of Ukraine.

The Russian authorities say that the army does not attack civilian objects. At the same time, Russian aviation, missile forces, navy and artillery shell Ukrainian cities every day. Residential buildings and objects of civil infrastructure throughout the territory of Ukraine are subject to destruction.

At the end of October, Ukraine estimated Russia’s losses in the war at more than 70,000 dead soldiers. In September, Russia announced that its losses were less than 6,000 dead. In June, President Zelenskyі estimated the ratio of losses of Ukraine and Russia as one to five.

Having not overcome the resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the surviving Russian units withdrew from the territory of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions in early April. And in September, as a result of a lightning counteroffensive, the Ukrainian army liberated almost the entire occupied part of the Kharkiv region.

After the liberation of Kyiv region from Russian troops, facts of mass murders, torture and rape of civilians, including children, were discovered in the cities of Bucha, Irpin, Gostomel and villages of the region. Ukrainian authorities have declared that Russia is committing genocide. Western countries participate in confirming the facts of mass murders. The Russian Federation rejects accusations of war crimes.

Later, the facts of torture and murder of Ukrainian citizens began to be discovered in almost all settlements that were under Russian occupation. In particular, in Chernihiv Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Kherson Oblast.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has confirmed 6,884 deaths and 10,947 injuries of civilians in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale invasion of Russia. These are the organization’s data from February 24 to midnight on December 26.

Among civilians, from February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a war against Ukraine, to January 9, 2023, 18,096 people were injured (17,994 a week earlier), including 6,952 deaths (6,919), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported on Tuesday.

“The cause of the majority of the recorded cases of death or injury of civilians was the use of explosive weapons with a large impact zone, in particular, heavy artillery and rocket launchers, as well as rocket and airstrikes,” the document emphasizes on UN data.

This applies, for example, to such settlements as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region), Lysychansk, Popasna and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where, according to reports, numerous cases of civilian deaths or injuries have been recorded.

According to confirmed UN data, 2,758 men, 1,857 women, 220 boys and 176 girls died, while the gender of 35 children and 1,906 adults has not yet been determined.

Among the 11,144 wounded, there are 322 boys and 234 girls, as well as 254 children, the sex of which has not yet been determined.

Compared to the data on January 3, two people died and two children were injured.

If previously the summary of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the number of casualties was published daily, and then only on working days, since July it has become weekly. This summary, like the previous one, shows data by month.

According to them, the number of dead in December – 190 – exceeded the figure in November – 164, which was the lowest since the beginning of the war. March remains the deadliest month for civilians, according to the UN, with at least 3,361 dead.

In April, according to the publication of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of civilian deaths due to the war decreased to 708, in May – to 476, in June – to 376 and in July – to 360. In the first five days of the war, from 24 359 people died by February 28, 307 in August, 330 in September, and 287 in October.

The number of injured in December also exceeded November’s figure of 612 compared to 530. In October, the number of injured fell to 787 from 934 in September, when it was higher than August’s figure of 894 and slightly lower than the figures of the previous months: July – 1,100, June – 1,030 , May – 1,021. In April and March, 1,257 and 2,416 people were injured, respectively.

During the 10 days of the new year, 34 civilians were killed and another 101 were injured.

According to the summary, in January, 29 people were killed and another 97 were injured from large-area explosive weapons, while 5 people died and 4 were injured from mines and explosive objects – the consequences of war (7% of total losses).

According to the UN, in December, 86% of the victims were in government-controlled territories.

The summary traditionally states that the increase in indicators against the previous summary should not be counted only for cases after January 3, because during this period the administration verified a certain number of cases for the previous days.

The occupation administration of the Russian Federation put up for sale 100% of the shares of the Yevpatoriya Aviation Repair Plant State Enterprise, which is part of Ukroboronprom and has been in the temporarily occupied territory since 2014. This is already the third attempt of the invaders to sell what does not belong to them.

“The actions of the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation are another manifestation of aggression against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and the results of the so-called auction will be considered invalid.

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea, temporarily occupied by Russia, is an integral part of the territory of Ukraine, which is subject to the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, as well as international treaties, the binding consent of which was given by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The temporary occupation of the territories of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is illegal and does not create any territorial rights for the aggressor state.

“After the de-occupation of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, we will definitely restore control over the activities of the Yevpatoriya Aviation Repair Plant,” the state company Ukroboronprom said in a statement.

According to official data of the “Children of War” portal, as of January 10, less than 14,000 Ukrainian children were taken to Russia. This figure is constantly growing.

This was announced by the head of the Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviychuk. According to her, the children taken to Russia make up several groups.

The first group

One of the groups is children whose parents were killed by the Russians or are being held in prisons.

“They are forcibly transported. There is a history of children being prepared for adoption when their parents are alive,” said the human rights activist.

The second group

The second group is children who were transported with their parents as part of forced deportation. According to Oleksandra Matviychuk, in this case, it will depend on the parents how quickly the children will be able to leave for a safe country or return home, if there is such an opportunity.

The third group

The third group consists of children who were in state institutions and were forcibly removed to the territory of Russia as part of these organizations. Oleksandra Matviychuk believes that in this case there are no legal mechanisms to influence Russia to return them

In 2014, a similar boarding school was removed from Snizhny, Ukraine appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, communication began, the children were returned, – reminded Oleksandra Matviychuk.

The head of the Center for Civil Liberties said that this was not possible 8 years ago, because Russia then tried to somehow save face and hid the commission of war crimes.

“Now she is not hiding anything,” concluded Oleksandra Matviychuk.

The head of the Molfar intelligence agency, Artem Starosek, believes that the children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, also known as “Bloody Mary”, is involved in transporting children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia.

Up to 700,000 Ukrainian children could be taken to Russia. The Ministry of Defense of Russia and Ukrainian human rights defenders call the figure 300 thousand small Ukrainians.

In Donbas, 16-17-year-old boys received summonses. If 16-year-olds can still leave the occupied territories, 17-year-olds are no longer allowed to leave. There is active militaristic propaganda in schools.

The Russian occupiers are exterminating the Ukrainian population in Donbas. However, the occupied territories need labor force, which is “supplied” by Russians.

Pavlo Lysyanskyi, a human rights defender and founder of the “Eastern Human Rights Group” public organization, told about it. In addition, in the occupied territories, in particular, the Luhansk Region, the occupiers withdraw the hryvnia.

Russians at enterprises in the occupied territories

Lysyanskyі noted that there is a system of support for the occupation administrations from the regions of Russia. In particular, they send Russians to work in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Examples include:

• Yenakiev metallurgical plant – there are Russians from the Leningrad region;
• Workers from Bashkiria repair enterprises of critical infrastructure in Krasny Lucha;
• Chechens work in Severodonetsk.

The Russians supply the occupiers with labor from the regions of Russia. However, if you take a closer look, they send local men and youth to the front, forcibly mobilizing and thus destroying them. Russians are being sent to their workplaces and residences, the human rights activist noted.

Lysyanskyі about the fact that the occupiers are relocating Russians to Donbas.

The number of Russians in the occupied territories

He continued that currently there are approximately 200,000 Russian workers in the occupied territories. They were promised the status of combatants, their salaries were increased. Now the Russians are actively campaigning for teachers and doctors to go and work in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

“This is done, in particular, by the party headquarters, and political parties, and in general, everyone who works for Russian money, Russian presidential grants. There is an error in the calculations of about 10%. But, unfortunately, this process does not stop on the part of Russia.” – emphasized the founder of the public organization “Eastern Human Rights Group”.

The situation in the occupied territories of Ukraine

• Currently, part of the Zaporizhzhia region is still under Russian occupation. The mass media published data on traitors and collaborators who cooperate with the enemy and hold leadership positions in the captured territories.
• Russia wants to sell the Yevpatoriya aircraft repair plant stolen from Ukraine. This is already the third attempt of the occupiers to sell what does not belong to them.
• In Mariupol, the occupiers flaunt the fact that they are allegedly repairing residential buildings. It is about the restoration of those buildings that the Russians did not have time to completely destroy.