Firefighters work among the rubble of a residential building in Kyiv, destroyed by a missile attack on August 28. Ukraine: The number of civilian deaths and injuries continues to rise Peace and security
At least 214 civilians were killed and nearly 1,000 wounded across Ukraine in September 2025, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country (HRMMU) reported today. Populations in frontline areas, particularly women and the elderly, are particularly hard hit people.
“The high level of civilian casualties last month confirms the alarming trend this year – almost not a single day goes by without civilian deaths or injuries, especially in front-line areas,” said the Head of the Mission, Danielle. Bell.
Elderly casualties
According to the HRMMU monthly report, 69 percent of all civilian casualties in September occurred in areas close to the line front, in particular in the Donetsk and Kherson regions. Among the dead are at least 87 people over 60 years of age. Elderly Ukrainians often remain in their native places and do not decide to evacuate.
Thus, on September 9, as a result of a Russian attack in Yarovaya, Donetsk region, 25 civilians (16 women and 9 men) were killed and at least 19 were injured (13 women and 6 men). Most of the victims had come to collect their pensions at the post office in the city center when a bomb fell nearby: 21 killed and 13 wounded were over 60 years old. The missions also noted that the main cause of civilian casualties was short-range drone strikes, which accounted for about 30 percent of all deaths and injuries in September. Another 30 percent of the victims are the result of long-range missile attacks and loitering munitions strikes inflicted on Kyiv and 16 regions of Ukraine, including cities located hundreds of kilometers from the front line. At the same time, 97 percent of civilian casualties were recorded in territories controlled by the Ukrainian government.
In September, Ukrainian energy infrastructure was attacked at least 31 times. In the Chernihiv region, energy system facilities were attacked at least 12 times, which led to temporary outages of electricity and water, as well as the introduction of rolling blackouts in October.
Only the night before, another massive attack on energy facilities led to death a seven-year-old boy and injured 34 people, the Mission said in a statement.
In the first nine months of 2025, the number of civilian deaths and injuries increased by 31 percent compared to the same period last year. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN mission has documented at least 14,383 civilian deaths and 37,541 injuries, including 738 deaths and 2,318 children injured.
Women of Ukraine are at the center of humanitarian efforts
Meanwhile, at a briefing in Geneva today, UN Women representative Sabine Fraser said that more than three and a half years after the start of the full-scale invasion and eleven years since the start of the conflict, the war “continues to claim lives, destroy cities, deprive millions of people of their homes and turn lands into minefields.” Since February 2024, according to the UN agency, at least 4,403 women and 314 girls have died throughout Ukraine.
Fraser also reported that this morning in Kyiv, after new attacks, people were again left without electricity and water. Large-scale attacks on energy facilities are becoming more frequent, while people are preparing for the fourth winter of full-scale war. She also noted that blows to infrastructure and transport hit women particularly hard as they spend more time at home and are more likely to use public services. transport.
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The representative of the UN agency emphasized that women not only suffer from war, but also play a leading role in humanitarian response and reconstruction. In Zaporozhye, UN Women organized consultations with groups of Ukrainian women whose stories demonstrate strength and resilience. Among them is a combat veteran who, despite her own psychological trauma, fights for the rights of other female military personnel. Also present at the meeting was a forced migrant who opened a company producing scented candles as a symbol of “warmth and light among the darkness.” Thus, the women of Ukraine, who themselves need help, are playing a leading role in recovery.
At the same time Fraser emphasized that less than one percent of the country’s recovery funds have a gender dimension. “Now is the time to support the women and girls of Ukraine so that they come through the war with dignity and become leaders capable of building a fair and equal future,” she said.