NGOs' Statement on Rising Civilian Casualties in Ukraine: Stop Bombing Civilians

After three and a half years of intense fighting since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, civilians are still heavily suffering. We, members of the NGO community in Ukraine, are gravely concerned by the escalating human toll in Ukraine over the last months. Since April 2025, we have seen an intensification of attacks through the massive launch of explosive weapons in residential parts of Ukrainian cities, destroying lives and homes. Since February 2022, at least 46,085 civilians have been killed or injured.

In this joint statement, we once again chose to highlight the most disastrous attacks impacting civilians and the death toll hindered by the extensive use of explosive weapons with wide area effect in populated areas from both parties to the conflicts. We also seek to document the type of incendiary weapons that pose the greatest threat to civilian life. Although the vast majority (97%) of reported civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructures and humanitarian infrastructure occurred in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.

• Indeed, in April 2025, at least 209 civilians were killed and 1,146 injured—a 23% increase from March and 84% higher than April 2024, making it the deadliest month since September 2024.
• In May, another 183 civilians were killed and 836 injured, continuing this alarming trend. Civilian casualties were recorded across 17 regions and the city of Kyiv, including locations far from active combat. Repeated strikes on critical infrastructure, such as power generation facilities in Kherson and port infrastructure in Odesa, exacerbated humanitarian suffering.
• In June, successive massive attacks across the country also testified to this increase, with always more drones and missiles launched at one time. In June 2024, a total of 332 drones were launched for the month. This year, on June 27, Russia launched 363 drones, 440 on June 17, and 477on June 29, in what was the worst massive attack perpetrated since the full-scale invasion.

The primary causes of civilian harm were missile and loitering munitions strikes, which frequently targeted densely populated cities including Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, and Kharkiv. In several cases, Russian armed forces used fragmentation warheads that detonated above ground, spreading lethal shrapnel across vast areas and causing indiscriminate harm.

Short-range drone–like “First Person Views” drones (FPV) strikes also continued with devastating impact, especially in frontline regions such as Kherson, only a few kilometers from the frontline. These attacks accounted for nearly a quarter of all casualties in April and May and have intensified drastically over the past year, driven by technological advancements and increased production capacity. Although innovations have improved operational precision, they have not increased civilian protection, and drones have become a leading cause of civilian death and injury in Ukraine.

Those FPV drones equipped with cameras provide a real-time view of areas being crossed, allowing operators to attack military targets with “exceptional accuracy.” However, it was documented by several Human rights actors that a large number of these weapons were deployed against civilians “who showed no signs of direct participation in hostilities”, including walking, riding bicycles, or using public transport, in ambulances or humanitarian evacuation buses.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas is one of the leading causes of harm to civilians in armed conflict worldwide. Civilians are killed and injured, with many experiencing life-changing injuries, and yet more suffering severe psychological harm and distress. Damage and destruction of vital infrastructure, including housing, hospitals, and schools, causes further harm. Unexploded ordnance poses an ongoing threat to civilians during and long after hostilities have ended, impeding the safe return of refugees and displaced persons.

In Ukraine, like in all conflicts, the most vulnerable groups are disproportionately impacted by explosive weapons, particularly children, older people, and people with disabilities. Among the groups most profoundly affected, the surge of child victims is particularly distressing. Indeed, April saw the highest verified number since June 2022, with at least 19 children killed and 78 injured.

The increase of violence and attacks is relentlessly flouting International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL), including the likelihood of violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and feasible precautions, and the use of indiscriminate attacks. Evidence collected also indicates attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including health facilities and other critical civilian infrastructure, and attacks against medical and humanitarian workers.

We firmly denounce the continuous use of explosive weapons against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

We Call Both Parties to the Conflict to:

• Stop the use of explosive weapons with wide area effect on populated areas and facilitate rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access to all territories where people are in dire need of aid.

We Call on the International Community to:

• Use all the necessary means to apply Article 1 of the Geneva Convention and to condemn, investigate, and prosecute violations of IHL, including the breach of the principles of distinction and proportionality, the rule on feasible precautions, the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks, the attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including attacks on health and educational facilities. 

We call the States that have not yet joined the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas to:

• Strongly denounce the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, their impacts, and reverberating effects on civilians
• Sign the Declaration and take steps to immediately implement its commitments, including restricting and refraining from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas when such use is expected to cause harm to civilians and civilian objects.

We call the States that have signed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the  Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas to:

• Strongly denounce the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, their impacts, and reverberating effects on civilians.
• Lead by example by sharing undertaken action to implement its commitments, including restricting and refraining from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas when such use is expected to cause harm to civilians and civilian objects.

Find below the list of major explosive weapons incidents impacting civilians from April to June 2025.

April 2025:

• On April 4, a ballistic missile detonated in the air over a park, a playground, and a restaurant in Kryvyi Rih, dispersing thousands of metallic fragments across the residential area. The attack killed 20 civilians (including nine children) and injured 63 civilians (including 11 children).
• On April 13, in the morning, two ballistic missiles struck the historic center of Sumy city, a few minutes away from each other. The attack killed at least 31 civilians (including 18 women and two children) and injured 105 (including 14 children). Many civilians were killed in the street while attempting to help the victims of the first strike or while traveling in a bus near the impact zone.
• On April 18, a missile attack struck residential areas in Kharkiv city, with one missile detonating near a residential building. A 79-year-old man was killed, and at least 102 civilians were injured (including six children)
• On April 22, aerial bombardment of Zaporizhzhia city killed a 55-year-old woman and injured 39 civilians (including seven children).
• On April 23, in the early morning, a short-range drone dropped a munition on a bus in Marhanets. The attack killed nine civilians and injured 58 - all of them workers of a mining and processing plant on their way to work.
• On April 24, a missile and loitering munitions attack struck five districts of Kyiv city, with the majority of casualties occurring in a residential building in one of the districts. At least 11 civilians were killed and 81 were injured (including 40 women and 10 children).

May 2025:

• On May 1, several loitering munitions attacks occurred in different cities. In Zaporizhzhia city, 31 civilians were injured, in Odesa city, a man and a woman died, and 15 civilians were wounded. In occupied Oleshky, in the Kherson region, a drone attack on a market reportedly killed eight and injured 19 people.
• On May 2, a loitering munitions attack in Kharkiv city injured at least 21 civilians.
• On May 7, an aerial bombardment in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, killed a woman and injured 14 civilians.
• On May 17, a drone struck a civilian bus near Bilopillia, Sumy region, killing nine civilians and injuring 7 - most of them were older persons.
• On May 23, a missile attack on Odesa port infrastructure killed three men and injured 12 more – port workers were among them.
• On May 25, a massive countrywide attack killed 14 civilians (including three children) and injured at least 55 (including 23 women and 12 children) in 6 regions of Ukraine and Kyiv city.

June 2025:

• On June 6, a massive countrywide and coordinated attack targeting the capital, major cities, and the country's far-western regions killed seven civilians and injured 80 of them.
• On June 7, an attack on Kharkiv city killed five civilians and injured at least 18 people. The attack damaged several civilian objects, notably the Children's Railway, a popular gathering place for families.
• On June 17, a new massive attack killed 28 people and injured over 134 people, primarily in residential areas of Kyiv.
• On June 24, during the day, an attack in Dnipro and Samar cities killed 23 civilians and injured over 300 in both cities. At the time of the attack, a passenger train was approaching the train station, and the attack impacted 14 train cars.

Signatories:

AQLITY
HELVETAS
Swiss Interco operation, Ukraine
Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International
Mission Kharkiv
Oxfam
The Halo Trust

Spokepersons are available for interview upon media request.