227 civilians killed in Ukraine so far but number could be much higher: UN

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has so far killed 227 civilians and injured at least 525 since it began one week ago, according to the United Nations’ human rights body. However, the body also admits that the number may be much more.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that it uses strict methodology and counts only confirmed casualties, hinting that the number presented may be an undercount. Officials from the Ukrainian government have revealed far higher numbers.

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The rights office said in a statement late Wednesday that “real figures are considerably higher, especially in the government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intensive hostilities have been going on was delayed and many reports were still pending corroboration”, according to reports from Associated Press. 

While disclosing key stats on the civilian casualties in Ukraine, High Commissioner for Human Rights Office also revealed the reason. The majority of deaths in Ukraine were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems and airstrikes.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says the tally eclipses the entire civilian casualty count from the war in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in 2014 — which left 136 dead and 577 injured, Associated Press reported.

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As Ukraine’s humanitarian conditions deteriorate, migration has also seen an uptick. So far, one million people have already fled the country, an exodus without precedent in this century for its speed.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has predicted that up to 4 million people could eventually leave Ukraine but cautioned that even that projection could be revised upward.