In May 2026, Ukraine experienced its highest number of civilian casualties in four years, according to a report released by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine on June 12. The report indicates that at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 were injured due to violence linked to the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Daniel Bell, head of the monitoring mission, stated that May marked the deadliest month for civilians since April 2022. The escalation of hostilities and the increasing use of heavy weaponry in urban areas have contributed to the surge in civilian deaths and injuries nationwide.
Bell noted that previous years had shown a steady rise in casualties during the spring and summer months, and the figures for 2026 are following this trend, albeit at significantly higher levels than in prior years. “The harm inflicted on civilians we have documented is not confined to communities near the front lines. Cities across Ukraine have faced multiple attacks involving missiles and aerial bombs, resulting in civilian casualties far from active combat zones,” she added.
The UN report also highlighted that, in addition to casualties in Ukraine, Russian authorities reported that 47 civilians were killed and 298 injured within Russia in May. The monitoring mission systematically collects and analyzes publicly available information regarding civilian casualties in Russia, but it faces challenges in verifying these figures due to a lack of independent sources.
Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure have been regularly targeted by Russian military forces using various types of weaponry, including drones, missiles, and multiple rocket launchers. Both the Ukrainian government and international organizations classify these attacks as war crimes, emphasizing their deliberate nature.
Attacks on essential services and healthcare facilities aimed at depriving civilians of electricity, heating, water supply, communication, and medical assistance are viewed as indicative of genocidal actions. Legal experts and human rights advocates assert that Russia’s actions during the ongoing war encompass all forms of crimes that could qualify as genocide. This includes declarations of intent to eliminate Ukrainians as an ethnic group, public calls for their destruction, targeted strikes on vital infrastructure, and the persecution of pro-Ukrainian individuals in occupied territories.
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly, obligates its 149 member states to prevent and punish acts of genocide during both wartime and peacetime. The convention defines genocide as actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Indicators of genocide include the killing of group members or inflicting serious bodily harm, deliberately creating conditions designed to destroy a group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children from one group to another.
Russian leadership has denied that its military conducts targeted strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, asserting that its operations are aimed at military objectives.
The UN report reveals a significant increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine, with May 2026 marking the deadliest month in four years. Escalating violence and targeted attacks on urban areas have raised concerns about potential war crimes and genocidal actions by Russian forces.