Ukraine’s civilian casualties 55% higher in first eight months than in the same period in 2025, UN says
Strikes on energy facilities and businesses have surged, while damage to power plants is causing outages as winter approaches.
The UN Human Rights Office has reported a 55% increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026 compared to the same period last year, with a total of 15,280 recorded deaths and injuries, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. This rise occurs as Russia initiates its Winter 2026-2027 campaign of long-range strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, potentially threatening electricity, heating, and water supplies for civilians.
Russian forces began this campaign in late September, with damage to energy infrastructure leading to nearly 2,500 additional civilian deaths and injuries in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, a 62% increase from the same period in 2025, as per UN data. Türk expressed concern as winter approaches, stating that Ukrainians fear the situation is set to worsen.
On October 4, Russia's Defense Ministry announced intensified strikes on Kyiv City and Oblast, as well as across the nation, according to ISW. Analysts suggest that Russia's shift to this approach may be due to Ukraine's battlefield successes compelling President Vladimir Putin to pursue a winter strategy aimed at coercing Ukraine into surrender.
This theory relies on the use of cheaper, jet-powered Geran-type drones. Over the first seven months of 2026, the UN's monitoring mission recorded 1,839 civilian deaths and 10,638 injuries, a trend that continued in September when UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council that civilian casualties in the first eight months of 2026 surpassed those of the entire previous year.
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