In 2024, the total number of civilians killed and wounded in Ukraine was 30 percent higher than the year before. Ukraine: At least 12,456 civilians have been killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion Peace and Security
The winter holidays and New Year did not bring a respite; rather, there was an escalation and expansion of hostilities – in accordance with the dangerous scenario of last year’s developments. This was stated by UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, speaking at a Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Thursday.
“Most worryingly, we have seen an increase in civilian casualties in 2024,” DiCarlo said. “According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the total number of civilians killed and injured last year was 30 percent higher than the year before.”
There was also an increase in child casualties last year. More children were killed or injured in the conflict in the first three quarters of 2024 than in all of 2023.
According to OHCHR, at least 12,456 civilians, including 669 children, have been killed between February 2022 and 31 December 2024. 28,382 civilians, including 1,833 children, were wounded. “The actual numbers are likely much higher,” DiCarlo added.
Attacks on schools and hospitals have increased in 2024, she said, with more than 580 educational and medical facilities damaged or destroyed in nine months.
The fighting over the past two weeks has led to new displacements, with more than 1,600 people, including children, fleeing frontline areas, mostly in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, according to local authorities.
Developments in Kursk region
While heavy fighting continues in eastern and southern Ukraine, clashes are also taking place in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, Rosemary Dikralo continued.
“We are receiving reports of civilian casualties and remain concerned about the impact of the fighting on the population on both sides of the Ukrainian-Russian border,” she said. – In addition, there are reports that servicemen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were captured in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.”
According to the Deputy Secretary-General, reports that DPRK troops are fighting alongside Russian troops are causing deep concern at the UN over the further internationalization of an already dangerous conflict.
Population Needs
According to the Humanitarian Plan for Ukraine for 2025, released on Thursday, 12.7 million Ukrainians will need assistance this year – about 36 percent of the country’s population.
Despite a decrease in the overall number of people in need (from 14.6 million people in 2024 to 12.7 million in 2025) thanks to improved access to services in major urban centers – Kyiv and Lviv, humanitarian conditions in the frontline regions have deteriorated to catastrophic levels, the UN Secretary-General emphasized. Rosemary DiCarlo.
“We must also not forget the plight of the many thousands of Ukrainian citizens living in the territories of Ukraine currently occupied by the Russian Federation,” she added.
DiCarlo expressed gratitude to donors who provided the UN with more than $2.2 billion in 2024, which allowed the United Nations to provide assistance to 8.5 million Ukrainians, 60 percent of whom are women and girls.
“We urge the international community to provide comprehensive assistance to the Ukraine Humanitarian Action Plan 2025 to sustain operations in an increasingly difficult and dangerous environment,” Rosemary DiCarlo concluded.