According to the United Nations, the past year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022.
At least 2,514 civilians were killed by conflict-related violence last year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission reported, compared to 2,088 in 2024 and 1,974 in 2023. The number of civilians injured also rose significantly each year, BBC reports.
The deadliest single attack in 2025 occurred in the city of Ternopil in November, where at least 38 civilians were killed, including eight children.
On Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian strikes overnight killed four people in Kharkiv and left several hundred thousand households without electricity around the capital Kyiv, amid freezing winter conditions.
According to the UN mission, the total number of civilians killed and injured in 2025 represents a 31% increase compared to 2024 and a 70% increase compared to 2023.
Previously, the mission reported that at least 8,006 civilians were killed and 13,287 injured in the first 12 months of the war, while by November last year, the total civilian deaths since the start of the conflict had exceeded 14,534.
UN mission chief Danielle Bell stated that the 2025 figures represent “a marked deterioration in civilian protection.”
