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More civilians were killed in Ukraine in June than in any single month since April 2022, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as Russia escalated long-range missile strikes.
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Exploiting Ukraine’s shortage of air-defence missiles, Russia has intensified its bombardments of densely populated urban areas in recent months, especially the capital Kyiv.
“At least 293 civilians were killed and 1,990 injured in Ukraine in June 2026,” said the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.
That was the highest figure since April 2022, the second full month of Russia’s invasion, which has now dragged on for four and a half years.
“The increase was driven largely by long-range attacks by the Russian Federation, which mainly affected urban centres far from the frontline,” the UN added.
The number of verified civilian deaths in Ukraine was 37% higher, 1,396, in the first six months of 2026 compared to last year, and more than twice the number in 2024.
Russian authorities have also reported rising civilian casualties on their territory, citing 250 civilians killed in the first six months of 2026, a 121% increase year-on-year, the report said.
In total, the UN has recorded 16,431 verified civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, among them 803 children.
But the organisation says that number is likely a significant underestimate, as it cannot verify the numbers killed in intense fighting at the start of the war in places now under Russia’s control, including Mariupol and Lysychansk, where thousands are believed to have been killed.
Ukraine has appeared to stabilise the front in recent months, but depleted air-defence stocks since the start of the US-Israel war in Iran have left its cities exposed to Russian barrages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing the United States and his European allies to help cover the shortfall.
Talks on ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II are effectively frozen.
Additional sources • AFP
