Latest news with #U.N.HumanRightsMonitoringMissioninUkraine
28-06-2025
- Politics
Russian drone strike on Odesa kills married couple, injures 17 people, Ukraine says
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian drones struck the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, killing two people and injuring at least 17, Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday. A drone slammed into a residential tower block in the city, causing damage to three floors and trapping residents, emergency services said. The two killed in the attack were a married couple, according to regional Gov. Oleh Kiper, who added that three children were among the injured. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. According to Russia's Defense Ministry, over 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight and on Saturday morning over western Russia and Kremlin-occupied Crimea. Long-range drone strikes have been a hallmark of the war, now in its fourth year. The race by both sides to develop increasingly sophisticated and deadlier drones has turned the war into a testing ground for new weaponry. Ukrainian drones have pulled off some stunning feats. At the start of June, nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged in a covert Ukrainian operation using cheaply made drones sneaked into Russian territory. Smaller, short-range drones are used by both sides on the battlefield and in areas close to the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a report published Thursday that short-range drone attacks killed at least 395 civilians and injured 2,635 between the start of the war in February 2022 and April 2025. Almost 90% of the attacks were by the Russian armed forces, it reported. More than 13,300 civilians have died and over 34,700 have been injured in the war, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said a June 11 report.
27-06-2025
- Politics
Russia and Ukraine trade more long-range drone attacks that are a hallmark of their war
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian forces launched 363 Shahed and decoy drones as well as eight missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Friday, claiming that air defenses stopped all but four of the drones and downed six cruise missiles. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said that 39 Ukrainian drones were downed in several regions overnight, including 19 over the Rostov region and 13 over the Volgograd region. Both regions lie east of Ukraine. Long-range drone strikes have been a hallmark of the war, now in its fourth year. The race by both sides to develop increasingly sophisticated and deadlier drones has turned the war into a testing ground for new weaponry. The Ukrainian air force said that 359 incoming drones were either intercepted or electronically jammed. The Ukrainian attack forced three Russian airports to briefly suspend flights, officials said. The authorities also briefly closed the Crimean Bridge overnight as drones targeted Crimea. Neither Russia nor Ukraine reported any major damage or casualties in the attacks. Russia manufactures Shahed drones based on an original Iranian model, churning out thousands of them at a plant in the Tatarstan region. It has upgraded the Shaheds with its own innovations, including bigger warheads. They are known as suicide drones because they nosedive into targets and explode on impact, like a missile. The incessant buzzing of the propeller-driven Shahed drones is unnerving for anyone under its flight path because no one on the ground knows exactly when or where the weapon will hit. Being outgunned and outnumbered in the war against its bigger neighbor, Ukraine also has developed its own cutting-edge drone technology, including long-range sea drones, and has trained thousands of drone pilots. Smaller, short-range drones are used by both sides on the battlefield and in areas close to the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Those drones, fitted with onboard cameras that give their operators a real-time view of possible targets, have also struck civilian areas. The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a report published Thursday that short-range drone attacks killed at least 395 civilians and injured 2,635 between the start of the war and last April. Almost 90% of the attacks were by the Russian armed forces, it reported. The strikes not only spread fear among civilians but also severely disrupt daily life by restricting movement and limiting access to food and medical services, the report said. ___
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's ballistic missiles make April deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since last fall, UN reports
Russia killed 209 and injured 1,146 civilians during April, making it the deadliest month and the one with the highest number of injured since September 2024, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported on May 8. At least 19 children were killed and 78 injured in April, the highest verified monthly number of child casualties since June 2022. "One of the main reasons for the sharp rise in civilian casualties was the intensified use of ballistic missiles in major cities across the country," Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU said, in a statement accompanying the report. The news comes as the Trump administration continues to try and bring Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table. Yet, the progress has been limited, and Donald Trump's team has pressured Kyiv to make concessions to Russia, without applying visible pressure on Moscow to halt its aggression. The high number of civilian casualties in April reflects a broader trend of increased harm to civilians in 2025 compared to 2024. Between January and April 2025, 664 civilians were killed and 3,425 injured, a 59% increase compared to the same period in 2024, the report read. In April, 97% of civilian casualties were recorded in Ukraine-controlled territory. Almost half of all cases were caused by Russian missile attacks or shelling. Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, and Kharkiv suffered the most damage over the past month. Attacks using short-range drones near the contact line accounted for 23% of civilian casualties during the month. Meanwhile, in early May, the trend of targeting large Ukrainian cities with loitering munitions also continued, according to the report. "The progressive rise in the number of civilian casualties every month this year is closely tied to the use of long-range missiles and drones on urban areas," Bell said "This has been compounded by continued drone attacks in frontline areas, driving a steady and alarming rise in civilian casualties, including children," she added. Read also: 'Clearly, Ukraine is holding cards' — economist on why US pressure won't force Kyiv to concede We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
