The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has verified more than 12,654 civilian deaths in Ukraine since February 24, 2022, along with over 29,392 injuries. That count, released on February 21, 2025, is a floor built on cases the mission could confirm, and it grows each month the war continues.
Of the verified casualties, 84 percent fell in government-controlled territory and 16 percent in areas under Russian occupation. The pace is not slowing. Civilian casualties rose by 30 percent in 2024 over 2023, which the UN ties to heavier Russian use of aerial bombs, drones and missiles.
“Three years of full-scale conflict in Ukraine have wrought persistent and escalating human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law,” said Danielle Bell, who heads the mission.
Hospitals, schools, power
The infrastructure numbers show where the pressure lands. The mission recorded at least 306 attacks on medical facilities in 2024, triple the 2023 figure. Schools and other educational facilities were hit at least 576 times, nearly double the year before. Since March 2024 the energy system has absorbed 14 large-scale coordinated attacks.
Mines add a slower danger. About 139,000 square kilometers of Ukraine is contaminated with landmines and explosive remnants of war.
The rebuilding bill
Follow the money and the scale gets worse. On February 15, 2024, in Kyiv, the Ukrainian government, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the United Nations released their third Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment. It put reconstruction needs at “$486 billion over the next decade,” measured as of December 31, 2023. The previous estimate was $411 billion.
Housing takes the biggest share, at 17% of total needs. Transport follows at 15%, commerce and industry at 14%, agriculture at 12% and energy at 10%. Social protection and livelihoods account for 9%, and explosive hazard management for 7%.
Direct damage had reached almost $152 billion by the report’s cutoff. Ten percent of the national housing stock was damaged or destroyed. Clearing debris, with demolition where needed, adds almost $11 billion across all sectors.
The catch is timing. Ukrainian authorities put immediate priorities for 2024 alone at $15 billion. Only $5.5 billion of that had been secured when the assessment came out, leaving about $9.5 billion unfunded.
The authors also call for reforms that support “an inclusive and green recovery” and for private sector involvement in the rebuilding.
Sources
- Updated Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Needs Assessment Released (World Bank)
- Civilian Harm and Human Rights Abuses Persist in Ukraine as War Enters Fourth Year (United Nations in Ukraine)
