According to a new report published this week, at least 2,500 civilians were killed in Ukraine last year as a result of ongoing Russian strikes, with a further 12,000 injured. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said these figures made the past year the deadliest for civilians since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The report counted only verified cases, with the total number of people killed and wounded in 2025 standing 31 percent higher than in 2024 and 70 percent higher than in 2023.
About 97 percent of all casualties occurred in territories under Ukrainian control and were the result of attacks by Russian armed forces. In 2025, the Russian army intensified its offensive in the east and south of the country, accompanied by civilian deaths and injuries, widespread destruction of infrastructure, and new waves of forced displacement. Fighting continues as Russian President Vladimir Putin effectively ignores efforts by US President Donald Trump to bring the war to an end.
More than 9,000 people were injured in frontline areas, with older people proving the most vulnerable group. Civilian casualties from short-range drone strikes rose by 120 percent: in 2025, FPV-drone attacks killed 577 people and wounded more than 3,000, compared with 226 killed and 1,528 injured a year earlier. Speaking on Monday at a UN Security Council meeting, Russia’s permanent representative Vasily Nebenzya rejected accusations of deliberate strikes on civilians, placing responsibility for the losses on Ukraine’s air-defense system.
That same night, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine, deploying more than 20 types of missiles and 293 attack drones. According to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region, four people were killed in Kharkiv alone, with another six injured.
At the same time, the Kremlin continues to shell energy infrastructure amid winter cold, leaving hundreds of thousands of families without heating and electricity. “Each such strike on daily life is a reminder that support for Ukraine cannot be halted. Missiles for air-defense systems are needed every day, especially in winter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. He added that the world could respond to “Russian terror” with new aid packages and that Kyiv expects already agreed deliveries from the United States and Europe to be accelerated. “Russia must learn that the cold will not help it win this war,” Zelensky stressed.