The United Nations criticized the civilian toll suffered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, as the conflict entered its 500th day with no conclusion in sight.
More than 9,000 civilians, including 500 children, have been murdered since Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion, according to the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), however, UN representatives have previously stated that the true figure is likely to be substantially higher.
“Today we mark another grim milestone in a war that continues to exact a horrific toll on Ukraine’s civilians”, said Noel Calhoun, deputy head of HRMMU, in a statement highlighting the 500th day since the invasion.
While casualty numbers have been fewer on average this year than in 2022, the monitors reported that the figure began to rise again in May and June.
On June 27, a missile strike on Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine killed 13 civilians, including four children.
On Friday, rescuers discovered a tenth body among the ruins of houses far from the front lines in the western city of Lviv.
At least 37 persons were injured after an early Thursday strike that Mayor Andriy Sadovyi described as the city’s largest attack on civilian infrastructure since Russia’s invasion of the nation began.
He said on Telegram that more than 50 apartments had been ruined and that a dormitory at Lviv Polytechnic University had been destroyed.
According to UNESCO, the incident was also the first to occur in a World Heritage Site and had caused damage to a historic building.
Russia regularly bombards Ukraine with air strikes, including indiscriminate artillery and missile fire, both of which have been particularly lethal. The raids have also targeted infrastructure and supply lines, cutting off power and water to residents.
Last year, the cities of Bucha and Mariupol became synonymous with Russian atrocities as tales and photographs of massacres there stunned the globe, prompting accusations of war crimes and even genocide.
Satellite photographs later revealed that many dead had been lying in the street since mid-March, while the town was under Russian control, while Ukrainian authorities claimed that Moscow’s retreating forces had slaughtered hundreds of people in Bucha.
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