Number of civilian casualties in Ukraine in 2024 increased by 16%, number of attacks - 3 times, - ACLED report
In 2024, more than 1,600 civilian casualties were recorded, which is 16% more than in the previous year, as well as a 3-fold increase in air attacks that resulted in civilian casualties.
According to Censor.NET, citing the Voice of America, this is evidenced by the ACLED report, which was released on the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
ACLED analysts conclude that the use of indiscriminate attacks on residential buildings, medical facilities, educational institutions and the energy sector throughout Ukraine is not accidental and ‘reflects a pattern of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas that has escalated during the war’.
"The choice of weaponry further confirms this, as we have seen an increase in the use of less precise but highly destructive planning bombs against populated areas that have destroyed civilian infrastructure in frontline regions," said Nikita Gurkov, ACLED's senior analyst for Europe and Central Asia.
The report analyses nearly 5,500 cases of damage to residential buildings, schools, healthcare facilities and energy infrastructure from 24 February 2022 to 31 December 2024. Ukraine's frontline regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts, have suffered the most, but the report notes that Russia's indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate attacks affect the entire country.
Olha Polishchuk, co-author of the report and ACLED's Eastern Europe research director, adds that attacks are taking place across Ukraine, with infrastructure attacks affecting 24 of the country's 27 regions in 2024, up from 17 in 2022.
According to her, with these attacks on civilians, ‘Russia seems to be trying to force Ukraine to surrender regardless of the developments on the battlefield’.
According to the figures released in the report, the most common act of shelling of civilian infrastructure was the shelling of residential buildings, with more than 4,200 incidents involving damage to residential buildings.
The report also states that 650 schools were targeted, over 350 healthcare facilities were attacked, and 1,000 attacks on energy infrastructure were carried out.
"Russia's ongoing campaign (of attacks) against Ukraine's infrastructure, including the decommissioned Chornobyl nuclear power plant, one of the latest of more than 1,000 attacks on energy systems since the beginning of the war, has further damaged Ukraine's energy system and at the same time threatened Europe's nuclear security," Gurkov said.
ACLED has also documented Ukraine's attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks.
In January, Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory increased by one-third compared to December 2024, with more than half of January's strikes targeting oil, gas and power infrastructure.
