2025 was Deadliest in Ukraine since Russian War Began 

The year 2025 was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022, rising more than 30 percent since the previous year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said today in its monthly update on civilian harm released January 12.

The UN confirmed that war-related civilian deaths numbered more than 2,500 last year.

Additionally, with winter temperatures in the negative teens Celsius, the UN agent said that disruptions to electricity, water and heating are placing civilians across the country at heightened risk.

HRMMU verified that conflict-related violence in Ukraine in 2025 killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142. The total number of killed and injured civilians in 2025 was 31 percent higher than in 2024 (2,088 killed; 9,138 injured) and 70 percent higher than in 2023 (1,974 killed; 6,651 injured).

The vast majority of casualties verified by HRMMU in 2025 occurred in government-controlled territory from attacks launched by Russian armed forces (97 percent; 2,395 killed and 11,751 injured).

“The 31 percent increase in civilian casualties compared with 2024 represents a marked deterioration in the protection of civilians,” Danielle Bell, head of HRMMU said. “Our monitoring shows that this rise was driven not only by intensified hostilities along the frontline, but also by the expanded use of long-range weapons, which exposed civilians across the country to heightened risk.”
 

Frontline areas

Increased efforts by Russian armed forces to capture territory in 2025 resulted in the killing and injuring of civilians, destruction of vital infrastructure, halting of essential services, and new waves of displacement in frontline areas. Sixty-three per cent (9,253) of all casualties in 2025 occurred in frontline areas. 

Older persons were particularly affected, as they constitute a large portion of those remaining in frontline villages. HRMMU documented that individuals aged 60 years and above accounted for over 45 percent (742 killed) of civilians killed in frontline areas in 2025, despite representing only 25 percent of the national population.

Civilian casualties caused by short-range drones increased by 120 per cent in 2025, resulting in 577 civilians killed and 3,288 injured, compared with 226 killed and 1,528 injured in 2024. For example, on 25 December, a short-range drone struck a car with volunteers conducting evacuations in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, killing one humanitarian worker and injuring two others. On 6 December, a short-range drone killed a woman and injured her two adult children in occupied Horlivka, Donetsk region.

“The expanded use of short-range drones has rendered many areas near the frontline effectively uninhabitable,” Bell said. “As essential services shut down and infrastructure is destroyed, it has become too dangerous in some communities even to provide emergency medical care or evacuate civilians. In 2025, many people who had endured years of hostilities were ultimately compelled to leave their homes.”
 

Urban centers across Ukraine

A massive increase in the use of long-range weapons by the Russian armed forces starting in June 2025 also caused an increase in civilian harm in urban centers across Ukraine.  Regular, hours-long, nightly attacks with hundreds of weapons killed and injured civilians, destroyed civilian property and infrastructure, and created anxiety across the country. 

Long-range weapons (missiles and loitering munitions) caused 35 per cent of civilian casualties in Ukraine in 2025 (682 killed and 4,443 injured), a 65 per cent increase in killed and injured compared with 2024 (531 killed and 2,569 injured).

In the deadliest attack in 2025, long-range weapons launched by the Russian Federation struck the western city of Ternopil on 19 November, killing at least 38 civilians, including eight children. Ten families lost at least two members each. At least 99 others, including 17 children, were injured.

Long-range weapons launched by the Russian Federation also killed 32 civilians, including five children, and injured 170, including 17 children, in Kyiv city on 31 July, the highest verified number of civilian casualties in the capital since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
 

Targeting of energy infrastructure

In October 2025, Russian armed forces resumed large-scale, coordinated strikes on energy facilities nationwide, causing emergency power outages and scheduled power cuts across the country.

The resumption of nationwide attacks on energy infrastructure occurred alongside continued region-specific attacks. For example, Odesa region was among the most affected areas in December, experiencing repeated strikes that resulted in prolonged power outages in several cities. These outages, which lasted for several days, severely affected residents, particularly people in vulnerable situations, by disrupting access to electricity, water and heating, as well as limiting the ability to preserve and prepare food and to use elevators in multi-storey buildings.

Attacks on energy infrastructure persisted and caused prolonged power outages as temperatures dropped in January 2026.

“The sharp increase in long-range attacks and the targeting of Ukraine’s national energy infrastructure mean that the consequences of the war are now felt by civilians far beyond the frontline,” Bell said. “With temperatures now down to minus 15 degrees Celsius, disruptions to electricity, water and heating are placing civilians across the country at heightened risk.”

Russian authorities have reported that in 2025 attacks by Ukrainian armed forces killed 253 civilians and injured 1,872 in the Russian Federation. Due to lack of access to the Russian Federation and limited publicly available information, HRMMU has not been able to verify these numbers.