Ukrainian civilians have endured their worst year since Russia began a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, with more than 2,500 people killed in 2025, the United Nations said in a new report Monday.
The United Nations Human Rights Observatory in Ukraine has confirmed that 2,514 civilians were killed and 12,142 injured in conflict-related violence in Ukraine in 2025, almost all of them as a result of Russian attacks on Ukrainian-controlled areas.
The UN report clearly shows that no place in Ukraine is safe. During the Russian attack, more than a third of the civilians killed and injured were in areas far from the front lines.
Russia has significantly stepped up its air campaign against Ukrainian cities in 2025, regularly terrorizing civilians with large-scale drone and missile attacks.
In one such attack last week, Moscow launched 242 drones, 14 ballistic missiles and 22 cruise missiles against multiple cities overnight, targeting civilian energy infrastructure and leaving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power and heat.
The United Nations announced that the number of civilian casualties recorded in Ukraine last year was 31% higher than in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023.
“This increase is driven not only by the escalation of hostilities on the front lines, but also by the increased use of long-range weapons, putting civilians across the country at high risk,” said Daniel Bell, head of the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine.
The deadliest of these attacks occurred on November 19 in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, according to the United Nations. The attack killed at least 38 civilians, including eight children, and injured 99 others, including 17 children. According to the United Nations, 10 families each lost two or more family members.
More than 14,900 civilians have died since Russia began all-out war in February 2022, according to United Nations data based on confirmed deaths.
The United Nations has said in the past that the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine is “likely to be much higher” because many reports “still await confirmation” and Ukraine has limited access to occupied territory and areas close to the front lines.
