8 May 2025, Kyiv – With at least 209 civilians killed and 1,146 injured, April became the deadliest month for Ukraine’s civilians, and the month with the highest number of overall civilian casualties, since September 2024, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said today.
In its monthly update on the protection of civilians HRMMU noted that 97 per cent of the casualties occurred in territory controlled by Ukraine and almost half were due to missile and loitering munitions attacks launched by Russian armed forces.
“Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, and Kharkiv all endured devastating attacks that left dozens killed or injured.” Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU said. “One of the main reasons for the sharp rise in civilian casualties was the intensified use of ballistic missiles in major cities across the country.”
A ballistic missile attack in Kryvyi Rih on 4 April killed 20 civilians and injured at least 63. Just over a week later, on Palm Sunday (13 April), two missiles impacted Sumy city killing at least 31 civilians and injuring 105. Five days later, a missile attack in Kharkiv city on 18 April killed one civilian and injured at least 102. Then, an attack with missiles and loitering munitions on Kyiv city on 24 April killed at least 11 civilians and injured 81.
The pattern of attacks in major cities across Ukraine has continued in May, with missiles and loitering munitions striking for example Kharkiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv, causing civilian casualties.
The attacks, sometimes at times and in locations when many families were gathered outside, also contributed to high numbers of casualties among children, HRMMU said. At least 19 children were killed and 78 injured in April, the highest verified monthly number of child casualties since June 2022.
Attacks with short-range drones near the frontline accounted for 23 per cent of the civilian casualties during the month. While the majority of these incidents were recorded in Kherson region, an attack with a drone on a bus in Marhanets (Dnipropetrovsk region) on 23 April killed at least 9 employees of a mining company, including 8 women, and injured 58 as they were on their way to work.
The high number of civilian casualties in April reflects a broader pattern of increased civilian harm in 2025 compared to 2024, HRMMU said. Between January and April 2025, 664 civilians killed and 3,425 injured, a 59 per cent increase over the same period in 2024.
“The progressive rise in the number of civilian casualties every month this year is closely tied to the use of long-range missiles and drones on urban areas,” Bell said. “This has been compounded by continued drone attacks in frontline areas, driving a steady and alarming rise in civilian casualties, including children.”
