UN: civilian casualties in Ukraine stay at record levels, up 85% on a year earlier in September

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Friday, 16 October, that intensified Russian attacks kept civilian casualties in 2026 far above levels verified in previous years, and warned that repeated strikes on energy infrastructure threaten to deepen suffering as winter nears.

September figures

• HRMMU verified at least 328 civilians killed and 2,105 injured in September — 85% more killed and injured than in September 2025 (249 killed, 1,068 injured).
• Casualties were recorded in 22 regions and Kyiv city, with particularly high numbers in Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. In Kyiv, civilian casualties were recorded on 22 of 30 days, more often than in any month since the full-scale invasion began.
• The September total includes 18 killed and 44 injured in Russian-occupied territory; the mission said the real number there is likely significantly higher because of limited access.

October and the energy campaign

• “The first two weeks of October were among the deadliest periods for civilians in years,” said HRMMU head Danielle Bell. The mission cited an attack on Pryluky on 6–7 October that killed 22 civilians and injured 45.
• Russian strikes on 13–14 October hit energy facilities including the three main power stations in Kyiv, temporarily leaving 600,000 people in the capital without electricity, according to Ukrainian authorities.
• The report also noted that Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces reported 82 attacks on energy infrastructure in occupied territory and Russia.

On the same day, AP reported that Russian attacks on nine Ukrainian regions knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of households and wounded at least 15 people, according to officials.