2026

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said at least 85 civilians had reportedly been killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine since 5 October, among them at least 30 when a strike hit two public buses in Kramatorsk on 8 October, according to local authorities. ^[1] A Russian missile hit an apartment block in Pryluky as residents slept, killing 20 people including five children, Ukrainian authorities said, and a strike on an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia on 10 October killed 20, including three children, according to the State Emergency Service. ^[1][2] Russian strikes on 13 and 14 October hit Kyiv's three main power stations, leaving about 600,000 people in the capital temporarily without power, and HRMMU said the first two weeks of October were among the deadliest periods for civilians in years. ^[1][2] A run of drone attacks on merchant ships off Romania and Bulgaria began on 5 October, when a grain ship sank and Romanian authorities said two people died, and on 23 October the cargo ship Khoryv sank off Constanta with one seafarer dead, an attack Romania's president blamed on Russia. ^[1][2] Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire on 11 October that neither side confirmed, Zelensky said on 15 October that Ukraine's pause in refinery strikes was over, and on 16 October Trump waived most Russia provisions of the new sanctions law. ^[1][3] Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps said it had retaken 277 square kilometres near Lyman since September, and Russia and Ukraine exchanged 270 prisoners of war each on 23 October. ^[1][2] The White House said Russia and Ukraine had agreed a local ceasefire in occupied Oleshky from 29 October to let aid in and civilians out, and the UN Commission of Inquiry told the General Assembly on 26 October that Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system amounted to crimes against humanity. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

HRMMU verified 328 civilians killed and 2,105 injured in Ukraine in September, the highest September toll since the full-scale invasion, and 2,570 killed from January to September. ^[1][2][3] An overnight attack on Kyiv and its suburbs on 1 September killed at least 12 people, including six railway workers, officials said, and a daytime drone strike on 4 September hit the SBU headquarters in central Kyiv, injuring at least 12, the city military administration said. ^[1][2] Strikes on 28 September hit a medical centre in central Kyiv and set the National Academy of Sciences building on fire, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator said, and the UN Commission of Inquiry warned on 21 September that Russian attacks on energy were making living conditions increasingly unbearable. ^[1][2] Putin ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv and Zelensky halted strikes on Moscow as US envoys visited both capitals, and an IAEA-brokered local ceasefire let off-site power be restored to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on 7 September. ^[1][2] Ukraine announced a counteroffensive around Lyman on 15 September and claimed recaptured ground, struck the Moscow refinery, and said it hit the frigate Admiral Essen at Novorossiysk, where the Krasnodar governor said four people were killed. ^[1][2][3] Krasnodar region declared a state of emergency as Ukrainian strikes on Black Sea ports crippled grain exports, and Russian drones hit a locomotive and a fuel station near the Polish border on 13 September, after which Poland scrambled jets and briefly shut Lublin and Rzeszow airports. ^[1][2][3] Donald Trump signed a Russia sanctions act targeting energy, defence and the shadow fleet, which Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called unfriendly, and Zelensky told the UN General Assembly that Putin was the only driving force of the war. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

A Russian drone strike on a warehouse in Myla near Kyiv on 28 August set off blasts that killed 38 people, Zelensky said, in a warehouse Ukrainian officials said stored ammunition, and two drones hit a crowded shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih on 21 August, killing at least 16, according to Ukrainian authorities cited by HRMMU. ^[1][2] Ballistic missile and drone attacks around Kyiv killed at least 17 civilians overnight into 4 August, the UN human rights office said, and strikes on 20 August killed at least 17 more, according to local authorities, damaging a children's hospital and a school. ^[1][2] HRMMU said July had been the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since May 2022, with at least 437 killed, and a WHO warehouse of frontline medical supplies in Dnipro was destroyed after repeated strikes, the UN said. ^[1][2] The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its last off-site power line on 20 August and relied on emergency diesel generators to cool its reactors, the IAEA said. ^[1] Ukraine said it damaged four Russian warships in an attack on the Novorossiysk naval base on 12 August, Tatarstan authorities said a drone attack on Nizhnekamsk killed 13 people, nine of them in a workers' hostel, and the Moscow and Rostov governors said a later Ukrainian attack killed six. ^[1][2][3] An explosive-laden drone struck the wing of a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport without detonating, Moldova recalled its ambassador to Moscow after a drone or missile exploded near a village, and Romanian F-16s disabled an explosive-laden sea drone in Romania's economic zone. ^[1][2][3] Russia and Ukraine exchanged 103 prisoners of war each, and at the end of the month Russia's defence ministry said it was preparing massive strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in retaliation for Ukrainian drone attacks. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv killed 31 people overnight into 2 July, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service, and at least 19 four days later, the Kyiv Independent reported, and the UN monitoring mission later said July was the deadliest month for civilians since May 2022, with at least 437 killed and 2,610 injured. ^[1][2][3] A daytime ballistic missile strike on a defence industry gathering near Kyiv on 24 July killed at least 10 people, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said, and overnight strikes on 30 to 31 July killed at least 12 civilians, including three children, according to Ukrainian authorities cited by the UN. ^[1][2] A missile barrage on Kyiv overnight into 19 July destroyed a market and damaged a WHO warehouse, the UN said, and the UN and partners launched a winter plan seeking US$358.4 million to support 2.1 million people as attacks on energy continued. ^[1][2] IOM found about 3.9 million people internally displaced in Ukraine as of June, about 132,000 of them newly displaced from January to June. ^[1] Russian commanders told Putin on 3 July that their forces had taken Kostiantynivka, which Ukraine's General Staff denied, and Ukraine said it struck the Omsk refinery among fuel sites across Russia. ^[1][2] Russia stopped civilian shipping through the Kerch Strait from 10 July after Ukrainian drone strikes on vessels in the Sea of Azov, Romania shot down drones over its territory on three consecutive days, and an object Militarnyi identified as a Russian cruise missile crashed in a field in Poland's Lublin province on 30 July. ^[1][2][3] Zelensky dismissed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov on 15 July and later named Mykhailo Drapaty to replace commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, as thousands protested in support of Fedorov. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

HRMMU recorded 293 civilians killed and 1,990 injured in Ukraine in June, its highest monthly death toll since April 2022, and 1,396 killed from January to June. ^[1][2][3] An attack with 73 missiles and 656 drones overnight into 2 June killed at least 22 people, 16 of them in Dnipro, Ukrainian officials said, and later overnight strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv killed civilians and damaged the grounds of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the UN said. ^[1][2] HRMMU counted at least 423 Russian attacks on electricity facilities between October 2025 and March 2026 and verified 129 executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war since 2022. ^[1] A drone damaged the spent nuclear fuel storage site in the Chornobyl zone without exceeding radiation safety limits, according to Zelensky, who called it a Russian attack, and the IAEA reported a heavy attack on the thermal plant that links the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to the grid. ^[1][3] Ukraine's General Staff said its drones struck the Moscow Oil Refinery, the second attack there in a week, in what the Moscow mayor described as the largest reported drone attack on the capital, and Russian-installed authorities declared an emergency in Crimea on 26 June amid Ukrainian strikes on its supply routes and power. ^[1][2] A drone attack on two cargo ships in Taganrog Bay killed five Azerbaijani sailors, Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said, and Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said troops raised the national flag on the Kinburn Spit. ^[1][2] Ukraine and Russia exchanged 185 prisoners of war each and later 160 each, Bulgaria's new government said it would stop sending arms to Ukraine, and the EU extended temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees to March 2028. ^[1][2][3][4]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

HRMMU recorded 274 civilians killed and 1,763 injured in Ukraine in May, the deadliest month since April 2022, according to its report as cited by the Kyiv Independent. ^[1][2] An overnight missile attack on Kyiv on 14 May partly collapsed an apartment building, killing at least 24 people including three children, city officials said, and Russia's defence ministry called it a massive retaliatory strike. ^[1] Guided bombs killed 12 people in Zaporizhzhia and five in Kramatorsk on 5 May, regional governors said, a day after missiles struck Merefa in Kharkiv Oblast, killing at least seven. ^[1][2] Daytime waves of at least 800 drones on 13 May reached Uzhhorod for the first time and killed at least 14 people across Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, and overnight into 24 May Russia fired an Oreshnik missile at Bila Tserkva in one of the largest attacks on the Kyiv area. ^[1][2] Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire for 9 to 11 May and a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap, which Zelensky confirmed, but 205 Ukrainians returned in the first stage, with Ukraine's ombudsman blaming Russia for delays. ^[1][2] A drone crashed into an apartment block in Romania's Galati on 29 May, injuring two, which President Nicusor Dan called the most serious event on Romanian territory since 2022, while drone crashes in Latvia led to the resignation of Prime Minister Evika Silina and a NATO jet shot down a suspected stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia. ^[1][3][4] Sweden said it would transfer 16 Gripen fighters to Ukraine, and the IAEA reported that a drone hit the turbine building of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which Russia and Ukraine blamed on each other. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Russia's deadliest attack of the year so far killed at least 17 people in Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro, Ukrainian officials said, and UN Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale said the world should not be forced to count the civilian toll every day. ^[1] A later strike with 47 missiles and 619 drones killed at least 10 people, eight of them in Dnipro, officials said, and the IAEA said a drone strike near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant killed a driver. ^[1][2] UNHCR recorded 5,762,000 refugees from Ukraine globally, excluding Russia, as of the end of April. ^[1] Russia's defence ministry claimed full control of Luhansk Oblast, which a Ukrainian military spokesperson disputed, and Ukrainian units pulled back near Myropilske in eastern Sumy Oblast. ^[1][2] Ukraine's General Staff confirmed a drone strike on the Tuapse oil refinery, where the Krasnodar governor said two children were killed. ^[1] The Kremlin ordered an Easter pause in fighting on 11 and 12 April, which Zelensky said Ukraine would reciprocate, but each side accused the other of breaking it, Ukraine's General Staff counting 7,696 Russian violations; Russia's defence ministry said 175 prisoners of war each were exchanged before the truce. ^[1][2][3] The EU finalised a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine and approved its 20th sanctions package after Hungary and Slovakia lifted their vetoes once Druzhba pipeline oil flows resumed. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

A ballistic missile hit a five-storey apartment block in Kharkiv, killing 11 people including two children, according to local authorities, and a later attack killed six people across Ukraine and set fire to St Andrew's Church in Lviv's UNESCO-listed old town, officials said. ^[1][2] The UN Humanitarian Coordinator condemned a drone strike on an evacuation van of the Ukrainian NGO Proliska in Donetsk Oblast that killed two women, citing Russian forces' increasing use of such drones against civilians and aid workers. Moldova declared a 15-day environmental alert after oil contamination linked to a Russian strike on Ukraine's Novodnistrovsk hydropower plant reached the Dniester, threatening its water supply, and Romania's foreign minister said Russia bore full responsibility. ^[1] A UN commission of inquiry found that Russian authorities' deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children amounted to crimes against humanity, saying it had verified more than 1,200 cases. ^[1] Ukraine's Air Assault Forces said they had retaken nine settlements in the Oleksandrivka sector, and Ukraine's military said it struck the Kremniy El microchip plant in Bryansk with Storm Shadow missiles, where the regional governor said at least seven people were killed. ^[1][2] Stray Ukrainian drones crashed in Latvia and hit the chimney of an Estonian power plant during Ukrainian strikes on Russian Baltic ports, with no one hurt. ^[1] Russia and Ukraine exchanged 500 prisoners each over two days in early March, and US and Ukrainian delegations met in Miami on 21 and 22 March after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran postponed a planned trilateral round. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

A drone attack on a bus carrying coal miners near Ternivka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed 12 civilians, local authorities reported, and a bombing in central Lviv on 22 February killed a police officer and a soldier, which Zelensky said Russia organised. ^[1][2] Russia launched 71 missiles and 450 drones overnight on 3 February, two days after the Kyiv pause expired, according to Zelensky, critically damaging Kyiv's Darnytsia heat and power plant, and fired 50 missiles and 297 drones mainly at Kyiv and its suburbs on 22 February, Ukraine's air force said. ^[1][2] HRMMU reported that civilian casualties in 2025 were 31% higher than in 2024 and a spike in reported executions of captured Ukrainian soldiers, and IOM warned that 325,000 returnees could be displaced again as the energy crisis deepened. ^[1][2] Ukraine's commissioner for missing persons said more than 90,000 people were listed in the national register of those missing under special circumstances. ^[1] Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on 23 February that Ukrainian forces had retaken eight settlements and about 400 square kilometres in the south, and Ukraine's General Staff said Flamingo cruise missiles hit the Votkinsk missile plant in Russia. ^[1][2] Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone strike on the Dorogobuzh fertilizer plant in Smolensk region killed at least seven people. ^[1] Talks in Abu Dhabi on 4 and 5 February produced an exchange of 157 prisoners each, but a Geneva round on 17 and 18 February ended without a breakthrough, and Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference that territorial concessions would not bring peace. ^[1][2][3]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.

Russian strikes on energy in a cold snap left almost 6,000 Kyiv apartment buildings without heating after an attack on 9 January that killed four people in the city, officials said, and 5,635 buildings were without heating after further strikes on 20 January, the UN human rights office said, citing Kyiv's mayor. ^[1][2] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was outraged by the attacks on Ukraine's energy system and called them a clear breach of the rules of war, and President Zelensky declared emergency measures for the energy sector centred on Kyiv. ^[2] A drone hit a passenger train in Kharkiv Oblast, killing at least five, on a day Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes killed 12 across Ukraine, and HRMMU recorded 161 civilians killed and 757 injured in January. ^[1][2][3] In Russian-occupied Khorly, the Moscow-installed governor said a drone strike on a cafe on New Year's night killed at least 28 people, a toll not independently confirmed, while Ukraine's military said it strikes only military targets. ^[1] Russia fired an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Lviv area on 9 January, which its defence ministry called retaliation for an alleged drone attempt on a Putin residence that Kyiv denies, and DeepState reported Russian forces advancing in Huliaipole. ^[1][2] The first trilateral US-Ukraine-Russia talks opened in Abu Dhabi on 23 January, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas a very important condition, and Russia later handed over 1,000 bodies it said were Ukrainian soldiers while Ukraine returned 38. ^[1][3] The Kremlin confirmed that Donald Trump had asked Vladimir Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv until 1 February, a pause Zelensky said took effect on 30 January. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.