More than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have so far been killed during Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Wednesday.
“More than 2,000 Ukrainians died, not counting our defenders,” the service said in a statement.
“Children, women and our defense forces are losing their lives every hour,” the statement added.
According to the service, some transport infrastructures, houses, hospitals and kindergartens have been “destroyed” by Russian forces over the last seven days.
Meanwhile, the United Nations’ reported civilian death toll is far lower than the “more than 2,000” figure, although the UN has cautioned that the real toll is likely to be “much higher.”
The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights said Tuesday that more than 500 civilian casualties had been reported in Ukraine by the UN – including at least 136 civilians killed and 400 civilians injured.
“Most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and air strikes,” the UN office said in a statement on Tuesday.
“These are only the casualties we were able to cross-check, and the real toll is likely to be much higher,” the statement added.
