The UN reported a sharp increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine in May 2026. According to the Monitoring Mission, this is the highest figure since April 2022.
In May 2026, Ukraine recorded the highest level of civilian casualties in the last four years.
It was reported by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
According to the mission, at least 274 civilians were killed last month, and another 1,763 were injured. The total number of casualties exceeded 2,000 people. This is the highest monthly figure since April 2022.
The UN notes that the main cause of the sharp increase in casualties was russia’s intensive use of heavy weaponry in urban areas, particularly missiles and aerial bombs. Such strikes have repeatedly resulted in mass civilian casualties.
Danielle Bell, the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, emphasized that the level of violence has increased significantly compared to previous years.
The report also notes that it is not only frontline communities that have been affected. In various cities across Ukraine, rocket strikes have regularly caused civilian deaths and injuries far from the front lines.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in May last year, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo noted at a Security Council meeting on Ukraine that in 2025 the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine had sharply increased.
Thus, she reported that the mortality rate of civilians in the first quarter of 2025 was 59% higher than in the same period in 2024.
According to DiCarlo, the new russian attacks indicate that the war is moving to a new "destructive level."
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