New york: The United Nations on Monday warned that civilian casualties in Ukraine hit their highest combined monthly level in more than four years, as a senior official called for an immediate resumption of ceasefire diplomacy. “On 15 June, the Russian Federation launched yet another massive, deadly strike on Ukraine,” said Khaled Khiari, UN assistant secretary-general, briefing the Security Council, adding that “sites with immeasurable historic and cultural value for Ukraine – and beyond – were damaged.”
According to Anadolu Agency, since February 2022, Khiari stated that “UNESCO has verified damage to more than 530 cultural sites across the country.” Turning to casualties, Khiari reported that “last month, at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 injured in Ukraine,” marking it as “the highest monthly combined figure of killed and injured since April 2022.”
Khiari further elaborated on the cumulative toll since Russia’s war on Ukraine began, noting that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had verified that “at least 16,126 civilians, including 796 children, have been killed in Ukraine,” with 46,590 others, including 2,835 children, injured, and warned that “actual figures are likely higher.”
He cautioned against further escalation, stating, “If the current dangerous cycle of escalation continues, we will undoubtedly witness further devastation in Ukraine, as well as increasingly in the Russian Federation.” He emphasized the need for “concerted diplomatic efforts towards a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire.”
Echoing these concerns, Edem Wosornu, director of the Crisis Response Division, speaking on behalf of UN relief chief Tom Fletcher, highlighted that “since we last briefed this Council two weeks ago, civilian harm and suffering have deepened,” with families forced to endure “attacks, destruction, loss, another night without safety.”
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission found “repeated strikes on ambulances, rescue teams and aid workers, in some cases hit twice, as they returned to help,” with civilians also struck “when simply going about daily life: in cars, on buses, in their gardens.” Wosornu noted that “more civilians were killed and injured by short-range drones in May than in any month since February 2022.”
Wosornu urged the council members to “use your influence to ensure all parties comply with international humanitarian law, wherever they take the fight,” and to provide “timely, flexible funding.”