2025 deadliest year of the war for Ukrainian civilians, UN report says
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Last year was the deadliest of the war in terms of civilian casualties across Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said in a report on Jan. 12.
Citing verified casualty figures, HRMMU stated that 2,514 civilians were killed and 12,142 wounded in 2025.
“The total number of killed and injured civilians in 2025 was 31% higher than in 2024 (2,088 killed; 9,138 injured) and 70% higher than in 2023 (1,974 killed; 6,651 injured),” the report adds.
“Our monitoring shows that this rise was driven not only by intensified hostilities along the frontline, but also by the expanded use of long-range weapons, which exposed civilians across the country to heightened risk,” said Danielle Bell, head of the mission.
Sixty-three percent of all civilian casualties occurred in frontline areas of Ukraine. Older adults were especially hard hit because they make up a large share of the population remaining in rural areas. In those districts, people 60 and older accounted for more than 45% of civilian deaths (742 fatalities), even though they represent just 25% of Ukraine’s total population.
The report also highlighted the deadly impact of short-range UAVs near the front line. In 2025, drones killed 577 civilians and injured 3,288—a 120% increase over 2024.
“The expanded use of short-range drones has rendered many areas near the frontline effectively uninhabitable,” Bell said.
“As essential services shut down and infrastructure is destroyed, it has become too dangerous in some communities even to provide emergency medical care or evacuate civilians. In 2025, many people who had endured years of hostilities were ultimately compelled to leave their homes.”
The HRMMU noted that a sharp rise in the use of long-range weapons by Russian forces, beginning in June 2025, increased harm to civilians in cities across Ukraine. Regular nighttime attacks, lasting hours and involving hundreds of munitions, caused deaths and injuries, destroyed property and infrastructure, and spread anxiety nationwide.
Long-range weapons, including missiles and kamikaze drones, accounted for 35% of civilian casualties in 2025, with 682 killed and 4,443 wounded. That marks a 65% rise from 2024, when 531 civilians were killed and 2,569 were injured by such weapons.
In October 2025, Russia resumed large-scale, coordinated strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, triggering emergency power outages and rolling blackouts.
“The sharp increase in long-range attacks and the targeting of Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure mean that the consequences of the war are now felt by civilians far beyond the frontline,” Bell stated.
“With temperatures now down to minus 15 degrees Celsius, disruptions to electricity, water and heating are placing civilians across the country at heightened risk.”
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