Almost 6,900 civilians killed in Ukraine since Feb 24: OHCHR

"From 24 February 2022... to 26 December 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 17,831 civilian casualties in the country: 6,884 killed and 10,947 injured," the report read.

Out of those, 2,116 casualties, with 483 killed and 1,633 wounded, were registered on the territories controlled by Russian troops, the UN human rights body said.

According to UN estimates, of the 6,884 fatalities, 2,719 were men and 1,832 were women. The number also includes 175 girls and 216 boys, as well as 38 children and 1,904 adults whose gender is unknown, the report added.

The wounded included 2,364 men, 1,709 women, 229 girls and 318 boys, as well as 253 children and 6,074 adults of unknown gender, according to OHCHR.

Most reported civilian casualties were caused by "the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes," the report read.

On February 24, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Moscow said that the aim of its operation is the "demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine.

(With UNI inputs)