Since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, 12,881 civilians have been killed in Ukraine so far. Among the deceased, 681 were children and adolescents.
Additionally, more than 30,500 Ukrainian civilians have been injured. The acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations, Joyce Msuya, reported this information during a briefing to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.
In her statement, Msuya said, "According to UN monitoring, since the start of the war on February 24, 12,881 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, including 681 children and adolescents. In addition, more than 30,500 Ukrainians have been injured. However, we believe the actual number of casualties is much higher."
The UN official also stated that at least 1.5 million people in the four Ukrainian provinces occupied by Russia are currently in urgent need of humanitarian assistance; however, due to restrictions, UN relief supplies are unable to reach those areas.
Following years of tension over Kyiv's pursuit of NATO membership and Russia's unfulfilled promise to recognize the Crimean peninsula as Russian territory, Russian forces launched an operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the operation.
Over the past three years of the war, Russian forces have seized control of four Ukrainian provinces: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. In September 2022, Moscow also recognized these four provinces as Russian territory.
Meanwhile, Kyiv applied for NATO membership in the same month; however, NATO clearly stated that Ukraine could not be granted membership until the war ends.
As long as President Joe Biden was the President of the United States, the international community made several attempts to resolve the issue through ceasefire and diplomatic discussions, but all of them failed. His successor, President Donald Trump, announced that ending the Russia-Ukraine war would be a priority after winning the election on January 20.
Following this, a meeting between government representatives of Russia and Ukraine, mediated by US representatives, was held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, this week. At that meeting, Moscow and Kyiv pledged to refrain from attacking each other's energy infrastructure and the Black Sea.
Welcoming this consensus, Joyce Msuya said, "We hope that all violence in Ukraine will end soon and peace will return. Because as days go by, the safety of the country's civilians and their property is increasingly threatened. Since March 1st, there has not been a single day without civilian casualties."
(Source: Anadolu Agency)
