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UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan and Danielle Bell Head of Mission Ukraine on the deepening impact on civilians of the war in Ukraine
“The war in Ukraine is having a deepening impact on civilians by the day. The scale and intensity of long-range attacks impacting residential buildings and critical civilian infrastructure are shocking. These attacks must stop,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said.
“In recent days there have been multiple attacks causing civilian casualties across Ukraine, as well as in the Russian Federation. Civilians and civilian infrastructure are strictly protected under international humanitarian law, and any such deliberate attack is a war crime,” he said.
“On Sunday, Kyiv was hit for the seventh time this month. In the largest reported missile attack on the capital since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least 35 ballistic and hypersonic cruise missiles targeted the city. Authorities reported one civilian death while 20 others were injured, and there was damage across five districts,” Al-Kheetan said.
Danielle Bell, the head of Ukraine team, added the following observation: “In the first six months of 2026, civilian casualties increased by 37 percent compared with the same period last year [1,396 civilians killed and 7,978 injured],almost double what we documented in 2024.
“Long-range attacks are increasingly affecting densely populated urban areas that are far away from the front line. Yesterday, our team in Odessa visited several incident sites in residential areas that had been impacted, including a recreational area near Chornomorsk, in which a 16-year-old boy was killed as he and his family were just spending time together,” Bell, speaking from Kyiv, said.
Public transport has repeatedly come under attack, with services suspended in many areas. Humanitarian assistance can no longer safely reach some communities. Schools and medical facilities have ceased functioning, and electricity, water and mobile communications are frequently disrupted.
“The second driver of civilian casualties is the widespread use of short-range drones, or First Person View drones (FPVs). This is where the drone operator can see the target in real time. I have seen the impact of drones firsthand during my recent visits to Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. I saw how these drones are transforming civilian life. People told us that they no longer decide whether they want to go to the market, visit friends, go outside, work in their fields. They must first decide whether or not it's safe enough to leave their homes. People describe measures to me that they've been taking to protect themselves while walking outside, like darting between buildings, leaving their homes at different times of the day. Across these visits, civilians consistently described feeling tracked by FPV drones while carrying out ordinary daily activities gardening, walking their dogs, feeding their animals outside, going to the store, driving or simply walking or cycling outdoors. This is reflected in our findings. In the first six months of this year, civilian casualties from short range drones increased by 65 per cent,” Bell said.
“Last week when I was visiting Dnipro and Zaphorezhia last, authorities described to me establishing anti drone police units which are deployed to protect civilians carrying out ordinary yet fundamental work such as the repair of public works or other essential services, and allow farmers, for example, to safely harvest their field. So, for example, when I visited Kushuhum and Zaphorezhia, repeated attacks on fields, combines and grain trucks, as well as farmers themselves, fearing being targeted by drones, have slowed the harvest from 30 hectares a day to as little as 3 to 5 hectares per day. These attacks are gradually destroying the system that sustains civilian lives and allow communities to function. These trends show that danger to civilians is not only increasing. It is evolving,” she said.
“Another thing that we're seeing in these frontline areas is an increase in the use of the fishing nets, or these nets, anti-drone nets being put up in the city. So, I was in, in Kharkiv, you know, a week ago, and it's the first time that I've seen anti drone nets being put up in different parts of the city. So, lots of new measures as these weapon systems quickly evolve. You see the authorities trying to find new ways to intercept and protect communities,” Bell said.
ENDS
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In Geneva
Thameen Al-Kheetan - thameen.alkheetan@un.org
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STORY: UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan and Danielle Bell, head of Ukraine team, on deepening impact on civilians of the war in Ukraine
TRT: 05:31
SOUR6CE: OHCHR/ UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: See shotlist
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 21 July 2025 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot : Palais des Nations
- Wide shots: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan , Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The war in Ukraine is having a deepening impact on civilians by the day. The scale and intensity of long-range attacks impacting residential buildings and critical civilian infrastructure are shocking. These attacks must stop.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan , Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “In recent days there have been multiple attacks causing civilian casualties across Ukraine, as well as in the Russian Federation. Civilians and civilian infrastructure are strictly protected under international humanitarian law, and any such deliberate attack is a war crime.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan , Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “On Sunday, Kyiv was hit for the seventh time this month. In the largest reported missile attack on the capital since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least 35 ballistic and hypersonic cruise missiles targeted the city. Authorities reported one civilian death while 20 others were injured, and there was damage across five districts.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Danielle Bell, UN Human Rights Head of Mission Ukraine (OHCHR): “In the first six months of 2026, civilian casualties increased by 37 percent compared with the same period last year almost double what we documented in 2024.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Danielle Bell, UN Human Rights Head of Mission Ukraine (OHCHR): “Long-range attacks are increasingly affecting densely populated urban areas that are far away from the front line. Yesterday, our team in Odessa visited several incident sites in residential areas that had been impacted, including a recreational area near Chornomorsk, in which a 16-year-old boy was killed as he and his family were just spending time together.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Danielle Bell, UN Human Rights Head of Mission Ukraine (OHCHR): “The second driver of civilian casualties is the widespread use of short-range drones, or First Person View drones (FPVs). This is where the drone operator can see the target in real time. I have seen the impact of drones firsthand during my recent visits to Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. I saw how these drones are transforming civilian life. People told us that they no longer decide whether they want to go to the market, visit friends, go outside, work in their fields.
They must first decide whether or not it's safe enough to leave their homes. People describe measures to me that they've been taking to protect themselves while walking outside, like darting between buildings, leaving their homes at different times of the day. Across these visits, civilians consistently described feeling tracked by FPV drones while carrying out ordinary daily activities gardening, walking their dogs, feeding their animals outside, going to the store, driving or simply walking or cycling outdoors. This is reflected in our findings. In the first six months of this year, civilian casualties from short range drones increased by 65 per cent.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Danielle Bell, UN Human Rights Head of Mission Ukraine (OHCHR): “Last week when I was visiting Dnipro and Zaphorezhia last, authorities described to me establishing anti-drone police units which are deployed to protect civilians carrying out ordinary yet fundamental work such as the repair of public works or other essential services, and allow farmers, for example, to safely harvest their field. So, for example, when I visited Kushuhum and Zaphorezhia repeated attacks on fields, combines and grain trucks, as well as farmers themselves, fearing being targeted by drones, have slowed the harvest from 30 hectares a day to as little as 3 to 5 hectares per day. These attacks are gradually destroying the system that sustains civilian lives and allow communities to function. These trends show that danger to civilians is not only increasing. It is evolving.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Danielle Bell, UN Human Rights Head of Mission Ukraine (OHCHR): “Another thing that we're seeing in these frontline areas is an increase in the use of the fishing nets, or these nets, anti-dronenets, being put up in the city. So, I was in, in Kharkiv, you know, a week ago, and it's the first time that I've seen anti-drone nets being put up in different parts of the city. So, lots of new measures as these weapon systems quickly evolve. You see the authorities trying to find new ways to intercept and protect communities.”
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