May was the month with the most civilian casualties recorded in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to the UN
In May, Ukraine recorded the highest number of civilian casualties, wounded and dead, since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression in February 2022, according to data collected by UN human rights observers, EFE reports on Saturday, according to Agerpres.
Thus, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) mentions in its monthly report on the damage caused to the population that the violence generated by the war caused the death of at least 274 civilians and the injury of another 1,763 in May.
“The intensification of hostilities and the widespread use of high-powered weapons in urban areas have caused a large number of civilian deaths and injuries across the country,” said mission director Danielle Bell.
For example, on May 5, an air bomb attack on an industrial area in Zaporozhye killed 12 civilians and injured 42 others, and in Kyiv, 24 people died and at least seven were injured when a rocket hit an apartment building on May 14.
“The civilian damage we documented was not limited to communities near the frontline. In cities across Ukraine, repeated rocket and bomb attacks killed and injured civilians far from areas of active ground combat,” Bell added.
In previous years, the number of victims increased steadily from month to month in the spring and summer, and the figures recorded so far this year follow the same pattern, but at a significantly higher level than before, the release states.
Although the vast majority of casualties in May occurred in territory controlled by the government of Ukraine, HRMMU confirmed that there were civilians killed and injured in Russian-occupied territory.
Near the front lines, short-range drone attacks were the leading cause of civilian casualties, killing at least 64 and injuring 539 in May, more than in any other month since the start of the war.
