UN rights chief: Ukraine war a ‘human rights catastrophe’ — 15,280 civilians killed or injured in eight months

Note

On 2 October 2026, UN News reported that High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva the war in Ukraine is a human rights catastrophe that is “growing and intensifying by the week” and threatening an even greater disaster across the region.

Türk said his office had verified some 15,280 civilians killed and injured in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026 — on average more than 400 every week, and 55 percent more than in the same period in 2025. He said the full-scale invasion unleashed by the Russian Federation is killing and injuring hundreds of people every week as frontlines barely move, with apartment buildings, schools, medical centres, railways and shops hit in recent attacks.

Near the frontlines, Türk said the use of aerial glide bombs by the Russian Federation in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions killed and injured nearly 2,500 civilians in the first eight months of the year — 62 percent more than in the same period last year. He said Ukraine is “a laboratory for drone warfare,” and that air raid alerts in Kyiv were active for 33 hours during one 48-hour period earlier this week.

Citing a recent OHCHR report, Türk said the Office had found “shocking levels of sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war.” Of more than 1,000 cases documented, 89 percent were attributed to Russian authorities and 11 percent to Ukraine. Most victims were men, particularly in places of detention; women and children were also affected, primarily in occupied territory.

Türk said attacks on energy infrastructure and commercial property have increased sharply, and that Russian strikes on supermarkets and food companies are already causing temporary shortages of vegetables and dairy products in some areas. “As winter approaches, Ukrainians fear the worst is yet to come.” An estimated 2,000 people are trapped in Oleshky without running water, electricity or gas. Civilian casualties in the Russian Federation have reportedly increased, but OHCHR has been unable to fully verify those reports without access.

Türk said his staff have interviewed prisoners of war from 36 countries held by Ukraine, many of whom said they had been deceived into joining Russian forces. He called for confidence-building measures including an end to attacks on economic and energy targets, local ceasefires, enabling civilians to leave, and a full prisoner exchange — and urged states with influence to push for a negotiated peace “before this tragedy becomes even worse.”