Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict — October 2025

Summary

• Civilian casualties in October 2025 remained high, with at least 148 killed and 929 injured, similar to the numbers in September and August.

• Most death and injuries (65 per cent) occurred near the frontline, with particularly high casualties reported in Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. Long-range strikes with missiles and loitering munitions launched by Russian armed forces accounted for 35 per cent of all civilian casualties (38 killed; 334 injured), usually affecting urban centers far from the frontline.

• As in the previous month, the vast majority of civilian casualties (97 per cent1) occurred in areas under the control of the Government of Ukraine. Civilian casualties were recorded across 13 regions of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv.

• October saw emergency power cuts across multiple regions of Ukraine, driven by the Russian Federation’s continued region-specific attacks and renewed large-scale strikes on energy infrastructure.

• Total civilian casualties from January to October 2025 are 27 per cent higher than during the same period last year, and the number of casualties for the first ten months of 2025 has already exceeded the total for all of 2024.