Russia killed more than 2,500 Ukrainian civilians in 2025, many of them far from the front lines
By Ivana Kottasová, CNN
(CNN) — Ukrainian civilians endured the deadliest year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of their country in 2022, with more than 2,500 people killed in 2025, the United Nations said in a new report Monday.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said it verified that 2,514 civilians were killed and 12,142 injured in conflict-related violence in Ukraine in 2025, nearly all of them in Russian attacks against Ukrainian-held areas.
The UN report shows clearly that nowhere in Ukraine is safe: More than a third of the civilians who were killed or injured were located in areas far from the front lines when Russia attacked them.
Russia has massively intensified its campaign of aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities in 2025, regularly terrorizing civilian populations with large-scale drone and missile assaults.
In one such attack last week, Moscow launched 242 drones, 14 ballistic missiles and 22 cruise missiles against multiple cities in a single night, targeting civilian energy infrastructure and leaving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power and heating.
The UN said the number of documented civilian casualties in Ukraine last year was 31% higher than in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023.
“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,” said Danielle Bell, who heads the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine.
According to the UN, the deadliest of these attacks happened in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil on November 19. At least 38 civilians, including eight children were killed in the strike, and 99, including 17 children, were injured. According to the UN, 10 families lost two or more members each.
More than 14,900 civilians have been killed since Russia launched the full-scale war in February 2022, according to UN data based on deaths it was able to confirm.
The United Nations has said in the past that the “actual figures are likely higher” for civilian casualties in Ukraine, since many reports are “still pending corroboration” and it has no access to occupied territory and limited access to areas near front lines.
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