The United Nations’ human rights agency said on Saturday that at least 1,982 civilians have died in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in late February.
The international human-rights watchdog cautioned that actual figures could be “considerably higher,” given reporting delays from locations where intense clashes are ongoing.
“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 U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
Ukrainian officials report that at least 2,700 have been killed, and the U.N. noted that its figures include “only those civilian deaths on which criminal proceedings had been initiated, and where forensic expertise of dead bodies had been carried out.”
Ukrainian officials said Friday that more than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in Ukraine’s capital region following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the region.
Police said most of those discovered had been fatally shot.
A total of 2,651 civilians have been injured according to U.N. figures, bringing the total casualty estimate during the war to 4,633 civilians.