Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict — January 2024

Summary

• HRMMU verified that at least 641 civilians were killed or injured in Ukraine in January 2024, continuing a trend from December 2023 of increasing civilian casualties. Verified civilian casualties in January were 37 per cent higher than in November 2023.   
• The January increase in civilian casualties was mainly due to intensified attacks by Russian armed forces across the country with missile and loitering munitions. These attacks affecting areas far from the frontline also resulted in an increase in the number of children killed and injured. Families constitute a larger proportion of casualties far from the frontlines because many families with their children have been evacuated from the frontline communities. HRMMU verified that 40 children were killed or injured in January, up from 18 in November. 
• The number of civilian casualties also rose in Russian-occupied territory, in large part due to an attack in the occupied city of Donetsk on 21 January. 
• Most civilian casualties (71 per cent) and damage to educational and health facilities (76 per cent) continued to occur in Government-controlled territory.