UN: Over 15,000 civilians affected by Ukraine war casualties in first eight months of 2026
The UN Human Rights Office has verified that more than 15,280 civilians were killed or injured in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026 due to Russian aggression — a 55% increase compared to the same period in 2025.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that his office verified more than 15,280 civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026. That averages over 400 people per week — 55% more than the same period in 2025.
Nature of the attacks
According to Türk, the front line has barely shifted in recent months, yet Russian forces continue to systematically strike residential buildings, schools, hospitals, railways and shops. Guided aerial bombs alone, used by Russia in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions, killed or injured nearly 2,500 civilians in the first eight months of this year — 62% more than in the same period of 2025. Türk described the war as a "growing human rights catastrophe" that threatens ever-larger harm to the region with each passing week.
Sexual violence and other abuses
The Commissioner also addressed what he called a "shocking level" of sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war. Of more than a thousand documented cases, 89% were attributed to Russia. Most victims were men held in detention, while women and children were affected mainly in occupied territories. Türk said accountability for perpetrators must accompany any peace effort.
He also called Ukraine a "laboratory of drone warfare" and urged the world to stop the bloodshed caused by this category of weapons. He further pointed to intensifying attacks on energy infrastructure and commercial facilities, which have caused shortages of vegetables and dairy products in some Ukrainian regions. In occupied Oleshky in the Kherson region, according to Türk, roughly 2,000 people remain blocked, living without food, water, electricity or gas.
As the source reports, his office interviewed prisoners of war from 36 countries held by Ukraine, many of whom said they had been deceived into joining the Russian army.
Earlier data
The source notes that the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published a report in September showing that at least 372 civilians were killed and 2,349 injured in Ukraine in August 2026 alone. That made August the second-deadliest month of 2026 for civilians, after July, when 448 people were killed and over 2,600 injured.
