Over 2,000 Ukrainian Civilians Killed Since Russia Launched War On Ukraine

Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered its second week and the civilian death tolls are mounting as artillery barrages cities across the country.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s Emergency Services Ministry announced that about 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the last week since Russia launched its attack. Reports of daily explosions from air and artillery strikes have been recorded as the Russians begin shifting their tactics towards relying on their greater firepower.

The United Nations also released its own figures on the number of Ukrainians who have died since the fighting began on Thursday. According to the U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 227 civilians have been killed, including 15 under the age of 18, and 525 injured in the last week. However, the U.N warned that the actual count is likely higher than what they could document.

Officials worldwide have warned that the war in Ukraine is likely to produce the worst humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II. Already, the U.N says that one million Ukrainians have been forced to flee to neighboring countries like Poland. To accommodate the growing number of Ukrainians within their borders, the European Union (E.U) announced that it would support a three-year residency scheme for the refugees that will allow them access to school, work and housing during this time.

Civilians from beyond Ukraine have also been caught in the crossfire as well. Thousands of African and Asian citizens were trapped in Ukraine and reports began to emerge of racist treatment by Polish and Ukrainian border guards on both sides of the border. A number of African states have stepped in to evacuate their citizens and Ukraine’s foreign minister announced that Kyiv would work harder to protect non-Ukrainian residents from mistreatment.

Russia for its part also released its first figures on the casualties its forces have endured since the war began. On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that 498 soldiers have been killed and 1,597 have been wounded in combat. President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced that the families of fallen Russian servicemembers would be entitled to receive $117,000 (or 12.4 million rubles) in compensation for their lost loved ones.

The Russians also claimed to have killed 2,178 Ukrainian soldiers, but this has not been confirmed by the Ukrainian side.

Against the backdrop of Thursday’s fighting, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats agreed to open a series of humanitarian corridors for civilians to escape the violence. However, the Ukrainian side noted that the talks failed to deliver the wider results that they hoped for.