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Almost 8,000 dead in Ukraine since April 2014: report

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

A United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine report revealed on Tuesday that nearly 8,000 people have lost their lives in Eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in mid-April 2014, while a recent upsurge in violence has further increased the death toll.

The 11th of its kind and covering the period between May 16 and Aug. 15 this year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report indicates that the number of civilian deaths had more than doubled compared to the previous three months, with at least 105 fatalities and 308 injured recorded.

According to findings, most of the civilian casualties caused by shelling during the period under review took place within the territories under control of armed factions, while protracted hostilities recorded in some of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas compounded the worsening situation.

"The shelling of residential areas on both sides of the contact line has led to a disturbing increase in the number of civilian casualties over the past three months. More needs to be done to protect civilians and put a complete stop to the hostilities, in accordance with the February ceasefire agreement," UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said, referring to the Minsk II agreement.

According to OHCHR, both the access and provisioning of humanitarian assistance is being hampered by the deteriorating security situation as well as the government's prohibition on the transport of cargo.

The report estimates that approximately 3 million people currently live in the territories under control of the 'Donetsk people's republic' and 'Luhansk people's republic' without protection from human rights violations and abuses carried out by the armed groups and their supporters.

The latest figures indicate that while 7,962 people, including Ukrainian armed forces, civilians and members of the armed groups have lost their lives since April last year, 17,811 have been injured. Endit