Russia-Ukraine war: UN estimates 1,793 civilians killed & 2,439 injured since February 24

As many as 1,793 civilians have been killed, and 2,439 others have been injured since Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine on February 24, the UN said on Sunday, April 10.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the statement said, "Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes."

The war casualties have been reported by the OHCHR as the Russian military offensive against Ukraine continues for the second month.

According to OHCHR, the war casualty is feared to be higher as reports are still pending corroboration. The case applies to regions regions like Mariupol in the Donetsk region, Izium in the Kharkiv region, Popasna in the Luhansk region and Borodianka in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

An estimated 458 men, 294 women, 46 boys, and 27 girls and 69 have been registered as war casualties in Ukraine from 24 February to midnight on 9 April. In addition, the gender of 899 adults has not been confirmed to date. Of the total 2,439 injured, there were 279 men, 213 women, 47 girls and 46 boys and 136 children as well as the gender of 1718 adults remains unknown. 

"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," the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement.  

More than 4.5 people flee Ukraine

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated that more than 4.5 million people have left their homes in Ukraine and moved to safety since the Russian offensive against Ukraine started on February 24.

These refugees have arrived in neighbouring countries to seek shelter and the number of refugees has been continuously increasing as people continue to look for safety zones.

According to the statistics released on the UNHCR website, 2,593,902 people have arrived in Poland from Ukraine ever since the Russian military offensive against Ukraine started.

419,101 Ukrainians have been taken in by Hungary and 410,882 people have arrived in Moldova. Slovakia has taken in 314,485 Ukrainians and 686,232 people have gone to Romania following Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

Furthermore, the International Organization for Migration on April 5 said that more than 7.1 million people have been internally displaced in Ukraine since the Russian military offensive began on February 24. 

Image: AP