UN records over 10K civilian causalities in Ukraine

The United Nations recorded more than 10,000 civilian casualties in the war in Ukraine 3 1/2 months after the Russian invasion began.  

The U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced Thursday that 4,481 have been killed and 5,565 have been injured, totaling 10,046 civilian casualties.

Among the dead are almost 300 children, and more than 450 children have been injured. 

“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 agency wrote. 

More than half of the casualties have come from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Russia has been heavily focusing its attacks. 

The continuing war has caused a severe humanitarian crisis in the country, with lack of food and water hitting many regions in Ukraine. 

Russia also been accused of various human rights abuses, including targeting civilians, raping women and kidnapping Ukrainians and sending them to Russia. 

The U.N. agency has emphasized throughout the war the number of casualties could be “​​considerably higher” as tracking the dead and confirming information takes time in a warzone.