Kyiv, 13 August 2025 – The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine reached another three-year high in July, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said today as it released its update on the protection of civilians.
With 286 civilians killed and 1,388 injured, the July casualty number was the highest since May 2022, topping also those for June 2025. HRMMU verified civilian casualties in 18 of the country’s 24 regions in July.
“For the second month in a row, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine hits a new three-year high,” said Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU. “Only the first three months after the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine saw more killed and injured than in this past month.”
The use of long-range weapons such as missiles and loitering munitions accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the casualties – 89 killed and 572 injured. On 31 July, for example, a missile and loitering munitions attack on Kyiv caused the highest verified number of civilian casualties in the capital since the start of the full-scale invasion, with 31 people killed and 171 injured. The majority of those killed, including five children, were in a residential building that was struck by a missile.
The increase, however, in civilian casualty numbers in July compared with the previous month mainly took place in areas controlled by the Government of Ukraine along the frontline, reflecting intensive military efforts by Russian armed forces to capture territory.
Short-range drones were the second cause of civilian casualties, accounting for 24 per cent of the casualties – 64 killed and 337 injured. Casualties from short-range drones have significantly increased since July 2024, as documented in a bulletin published by HRMMU in June 2025.
Aerial bombs dropped by Russian armed forces accounted for the largest increase in civilian casualties with 276 casualties (67 killed and 209 injured) in July 2025 compared with 114 (34 killed and 80 injured) in June 2025. On 28 July, for example, aerial bombs struck a penal colony in Bilenke, Zaporizhzhia region, killing 16 prisoners and injuring at least 43, all men. In another example, an aerial bomb struck an apartment building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, killing at least five civilians, on 31 July.
The high July casualty numbers continued a pattern of steadily increasing civilian casualties in 2025, HRMMU said. Casualty numbers for the first seven months of 2025 were 48 per cent higher than in the same period in 2024.
“Whether you are in a hospital or a prison, at home or at work, close to or far away from the frontline, if you are in Ukraine today, you are at risk of getting killed or injured by the war,” Bell said. “The risk is significantly higher than last year and it continues to rise.”
Since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, HRMMU has documented the deaths of at least 13,883 civilians, including 726 children, and 35,548 injured, including 2,234 children.
