July brought the highest number of civilian deaths since the fall of 2022: UN human rights experts
The MMPLU stated that an alarming increase in the number of victims among the civilian population was observed throughout July.
In July, the number of civilian deaths and injuries reached the highest level since October 2022, which reported The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (UNHRM). As a result of coordinated strikes by Russian troops throughout Ukraine on July 8, dozens of people died, making July one of the deadliest months.
According to the MMPLU, in July there was an alarming increase in the number of victims among the civilian population, which began as early as March 2024.
“The strike on July 8 resulted in the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries in 20 months. I hope that this July peak will be an exception and that the increase in civilian casualties will stop.”, — noted Danielle Bell, head of the MMPLU.
In its monthly report on civilian casualties, HMRC confirmed that at least 219 people were killed and another 1,018 injured in July as a result of the violence. This is the highest number of civilian casualties since October 2022, when 317 people were killed and 795 injured.
In July, the civilian population suffered as a result of the use of explosive weapons with a large impact zone, especially in the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government.
The biggest losses were recorded on July 8, when Russian troops struck targets in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Kyiv region with high-precision missiles. These attacks killed at least 43 people, including 5 children, and injured 147 people, including 7 children.
The biggest losses occurred when a rocket or its fragments hit a residential building in the Shevchenko district of Kyiv (13 dead, at least 20 wounded), a business center in the Solomyansky district of Kyiv (6 dead, at least 10 wounded), a medical center in the Dnipro district of Kyiv (9 dead, at least 5 wounded), the “Okhmatdit” children’s hospital (2 dead, at least 18 wounded) and the administrative buildings of the repair and mechanical plant in Kryvyi Rih (10 dead, 46 wounded).
The July 8 strike caused extensive damage to several medical facilities across the country. One of the rockets hit the hospital complex in Kyiv, destroying the toxicology department of the National Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” and seriously damaging the Center for Children’s Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. One medical worker was among the dead, and at least eight people were injured.
A detailed assessment of where the missile fell, eyewitness accounts and video footage confirm that the missile hit the hospital complex directly and was not intercepted by the air defense system.
