The United Nations and associated monitoring bodies have highlighted the devastating toll of the war in Ukraine on civilians, including women and girls, since Russia launched its full‑scale invasion in February 2022. According to gender‑disaggregated data from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), women and girls account for a significant proportion of civilian casualties in the conflict, amounting to several thousand deaths verified to date amid ongoing hostilities and indiscriminate violence.
While precise figures are difficult to confirm because of the challenges in gathering comprehensive data across active war zones, the UN report underscores that women and girls make up about 31 per cent of civilian casualties — reflecting both deaths and injuries from shelling, missile strikes and other explosive violence affecting populated areas.
The broader context of civilian harm in Ukraine illustrates a grim humanitarian reality: total documented civilian deaths since February 2022 number in the tens of thousands, with men and women alike suffering as residential areas, critical infrastructure and non‑combatant communities continue to be targeted in the conflict. Verified UN casualty figures show thousands of civilians killed and many more injured, with actual totals believed to be higher due to reporting delays and incomplete access to frontline regions.
The UN’s emphasis on gender‑specific impacts highlights the disproportionate vulnerabilities faced by women and girls in conflict settings not only from direct violence but also from the breakdown of social services, displacement, economic insecurity and increased protection risks. These conditions compound the humanitarian crisis affecting millions of Ukrainians inside the country and those who have fled abroad since the war began.
Overall, this data forms part of ongoing international monitoring of civilian harm in Ukraine and reflects the urgent need for conflict de‑escalation, strengthened civilian protection and sustained humanitarian assistance to war‑affected populations.
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