Civilian casualties in Ukraine rose by 49% in March compared with February – UN
In Ukraine, the number of civilian casualties rose by 49% in March compared with the previous month. At least 211 people were killed, and 1,206 were injured.
This is stated in the monthly report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), Censor.NET informs.
Data for early April
It is noted that the number of casualties continued to rise in April: in just nine days, at least 46 civilians were killed and 343 were injured.
Short-range drones pose the biggest threat
In March, short-range drones caused the deaths of 66 civilians — more than any other weapon. In April, they continued to claim lives.
For example:
- On April 4, in the frontline city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk region, five civilians were killed, and at least 26 were injured, including a 14-year-old girl, as a result of a morning strike on a local market involving short-range drones.
- On April 7, four civilians were killed, and 17 were injured in a short-range drone strike on a city bus.
The number of civilian casualties caused by short-range drone strikes rose sharply:
- in 2025, it exceeded the 2024 figure by 121% (in 2024: 226 killed and 1,528 injured; in 2025: 580 killed and 3,295 injured);
- in March 2026 (66 killed; 369 injured), it was 70% higher than in March 2025 (36 killed; 220 injured).
As HRMMU Head Danielle Bell stated, frontline areas are extremely dangerous for civilians, mainly because of short-range drones.
"Last month, half of the civilians killed in these areas were older people. Some of them were attacked by drones while on their way to collect their pensions or while working in their gardens, that is, at the very moment when they were simply trying to live ordinary lives."
Casualties in the regions
It is also noted that numerous incidents of harm to civilians were recorded across Ukraine: in March, casualties were confirmed in 19 regions and Kyiv, with 97% of them occurring in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.
Total number of casualties
It is also reported that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has confirmed:
- the deaths of at least 15,578 civilians, including 784 children,
- injuries to 43,352 civilians, including 2,668 children.
