U.N. finds 2,514 civilian deaths in Ukraine in 2025, highest toll since 2022

The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU/OHCHR) verified that 2,514 civilians were killed and 12,142 injured by conflict-related violence in Ukraine in 2025, making it the deadliest year for civilians since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the mission reported on 12 January. The total verified civilian casualties for the year was 31 percent higher than in 2024 and 70 percent higher than in 2023.

HRMMU said the rise was concentrated in territory under Ukrainian government control and attributed overwhelmingly to attacks by Russian armed forces. Approximately 97 percent of the 2025 casualties occurred in government-controlled areas, with 2,395 of the verified fatalities and 11,751 verified injuries recorded there, the mission said. Since February 2022 the U.N. has verified more than 14,900 civilian deaths, while cautioning that the real toll is likely considerably higher.

Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. monitoring mission in Ukraine, said: “This rise was driven not only by intensified hostilities along the frontline, but also by the expanded use of long‑range weapons, which exposed civilians across the country to heightened risk.” The HRMMU linked the increase to both escalated frontline fighting and a marked expansion in the use of missiles, cruise missiles and large numbers of drones that put civilians far from the front lines at greater risk.

The mission noted that more than one-third of those killed or injured in 2025 were struck while located in areas far from active fighting, underscoring a growing pattern of strikes on towns, cities and critical civil infrastructure. Reporting cited an instance in which Russian forces launched scores of drones alongside ballistic and cruise missiles in a single night against multiple urban targets, concentrating attacks on energy and heating systems and causing widespread outages.

HRMMU identified the deadliest single incident in 2025 as a strike on the western city of Ternopil on 19 November, in which the U.N. reported at least 38 civilians killed, including eight children, and 99 injured, including 17 children. The mission said 10 families lost two or more members each in the Ternopil attack, framing the strike as emblematic of the toll borne by noncombatants.

The numbers published by HRMMU reflect casualties the mission was able to verify through its monitoring and corroboration processes. The U.N. warned repeatedly that its figures undercount the true human cost because investigators lack access to territory under Russian occupation and have limited reach close to active front lines. Areas identified as effectively inaccessible in earlier reporting include parts of occupied Donetsk and Luhansk and the port city of Mariupol, where earlier sieges and battles produced very high casualty estimates.

Moscow continues to deny deliberately targeting civilians and maintains that strikes on Ukrainian civil infrastructure are legitimate if they impede Ukraine’s war effort. The HRMMU release arrives amid diplomatic stagnation and assessments of increased Russian territorial gains in 2025, reinforcing calls from rights monitors and humanitarian organizations for increased protection measures, safe access for investigators and renewed efforts to reduce harm to civilians.