U.N.: More than 7,000 civilians killed in Ukraine war

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- More than 7,000 civilians have died from war in Ukraine, the United Nations human rights office said, as the conflict instigated by Russia nears its one-year anniversary.

The bloody war in Ukraine began Feb. 24 when Russia invaded its neighbor, resulting in 18,358 civilian casualties, including 7,031 deaths and 11,327 people being injured, the office the for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement Monday.

Of the total civilian deaths, 2,472 were men, 1,764 were women and nearly 2,000 were labeled as adults whose sex was unknown. Minors accounted for more than 400 deaths, including 221 boys, 177 girls and 35 children, the office said.

"Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems missiles and air strikes," the OHCHR said.

The numbers presented by OHCHR are those it was able to tally, with officials stating they believe the actual civilian figures "are considerably higher" as retrieving information from areas of intense fighting has been delayed while other reports are pending confirmation.

Areas where information has been affected include Mariupol, Izium and others where there have been allegations of numerous civilian casualties, it said.

The office added that the vast majority of the deaths occurred in Kyiv-controlled areas of the country, with only 495 civilians having been killed in Ukrainian territory under the Russian armed forces.

So far this year, there have been 104 civilian deaths in Ukraine with another 284 people have been injured, it said, adding that 97% of the casualties were the result of explosive weapons. The remaining 3% were caused by mines and explosive remnants of war, it said.