U.N.: More than 4,000 killed in eastern Ukraine conflict

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Monday that casualties from the conflict in eastern Ukraine have passed 4,000 dead and 10,000 injured.

The numbers were released in a report detailing "the continued deterioration of human rights" in eastern Ukraine.

"As law and order increasingly broke down [in eastern Ukraine], so more human rights abuses, such as killings, torture, abduction for ransom and forced labor, started to be committed by members of armed groups, supported by increasing numbers of foreign fighters," the Human Rights Monitoring Mission observed.

Violations have continued despite the signing of a Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement, the U.N. noted, with armed groups failing to respect the Ukraine-Russia border and not withdrawing personnel and military equipment from Ukrainian territory.

The U.N. also faulted the Ukrainian government for "arbitrary detentions, torture, and enforced disappearance of people suspected of 'separatism and terrorism.'"

According to statistics from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, "the total number of casualties in the east had reached at least 4,364 killed and 10,064 wounded" as of Nov. 30.

The report issued a number of recommendations to improve and rectify the human rights situation in Ukraine, including calling for all parties to cease fighting, protect civilians, release detainees and grant international organizations access to hostile areas.