How many civilians have died in Ukraine-Russia war? UN and Ukrainian death toll figures explained

The United Nations (UN) have released new data around the number of civilian deaths in Ukraine. Rescue missions have been ongoing since the beginning of the conflict 11 months ago.

The most recent rescue came in the city of Dnipro on Saturday (14 Janaury). An apartment block in the central Ukrainian city was hit by a Russian missile, with rescuse workers arriving to help those stuck in the rubble.

At least 40 people died in the Dnipro attack. The UN also confirmed that 30 people were still unaccounted for.

The number of civilian death released by the UN is an estimated number. The death toll is expected to be much higher.

How many civilians have died in Ukraine?

The UN has estimated that around 7,000 civilians have died since the beginning of the full-scale conflict in February 2022. The group broke this down into demographics.

It is estimated that 2,784 men and 1,875 women have died. A further 1,939 adults of undetermined gender are confirmed to have died.

The UN has also said that 398 children are among those in official figures. The reported numbers are only those which have been corroborated by UN officials, therefore the actual death toll is expected to be higher.

In the first few weeks of the year so far, the UN said that 104 deaths have been recorded. The statistic are said to have dropped slightly in the second half of 2022, but they were expected to have increased once again following Russia’s bombardment over the winter period.

What has Ukraine said about soldier death toll?

While the UN has only confirmed around 7,000 civilian deaths, Ukranian officials have given their verdict on how many soldiers have died during the conflict. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s aide Mykhailo Podolyak has said that the country believed between 10,000 and 13,000 troops have died since Russia’s full-scale invasion 11 months ago.

He said: “We have official evaluations by the General Staff, official evaluations by the commander-in-chief [Mr Zelensky], and they range from 10,000 to 12,500-13,000 killed.”

The clarification came after a blunder by EU Commission head Ursual Von der Leyen. In a video address, she mistakenly said that 100,000 troops had died as a result of the war in Ukraine, which was later corrected by an spokesman for the group who said Von der Leyen had accidently combined those who dies with those who were injured.