Civilian death toll in Ukraine war has jumped to 3,153: UN

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The United Nations said on Monday that at least 3,153 civilians have now been killed in the Ukraine war.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it has recorded 6,469 civilian casualties since Russia started the war on Feb. 24.

Among the 3,153 fatalities are 226 children, while 3,316 more civilians have been wounded, according to latest UN figures.

Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems and missile and airstrikes.

“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed,” read a statement.

It said numerous civilian casualties are highly likely in places such as the besieged city of Mariupol, Izium in the Kharkiv region and Popasna in the Luhansk region.

- Kremlin creating ‘media regression’

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, media watchdog Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said it is “alarmed at the sharp deterioration of press freedom caused by the war in Ukraine.”

“In Russia, the Kremlin’s controls have created a regression in media space unprecedented since the communist era,” read a statement.

According to the group, at least 21 media workers have been killed in just over two months of war in Ukraine, while “many others were wounded, kidnapped, are missing, were threatened, hacked, forced to cease their work.”

Around the world, 52 media workers have “paid with their lives for doing their job” since the start of the year.

“The year-on-year increase in the number of journalists affected by violence is 116%, a very worrying development,” said PEC President Blaise Lempen.

The group said it is urgently appealing for a halt to hostilities in Ukraine and “for the independence of the media in Russia to be respected.”

PEC’s figures include murders of journalists, correspondents, freelancers, camera operators, sound technicians, technicians, photographers, producers and media administrators.

It does not register casualties among other media employees such as guards, security staff and drivers, nor does it include occasional media activists, bloggers and netizens.​​​​​​​