UN reports nearly 900 civilian deaths in Ukraine, believes true figure ‘considerably higher’

The United Nations reported that close to 900 civilians have died in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion, but added that it believes the true death toll is “considerably higher.”

The U.N.’s human rights office said in an update on Saturday that it had recorded the deaths of 847 civilians in Ukraine since Feb. 24, including 155 men, 119 women, 21 boys and 7 girls. The U.N. office noted that officials did not know the sex of 509 adults and 36 children.

The U.N. office also noted that it had recorded the injuries of 1,399 civilians in the country.

The “[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights] believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” the U.N. office said in a statement.

“This concerns, for example, Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne (Luhansk region), and Trostianets (Sumy region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties. These figures are being further corroborated and are not included in the above statistics.”

The development comes as Ukraine last week reported that at least 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had died, according to The Guardian. An adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister said in an interview being aired Sunday that over 1,400 Russian soldiers have been killed during the conflict.

The Russian government has previously reported different casualty figures for its forces than Ukrainians have.

Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, now in its fourth week, has led to an exodus of over 3.3 million people from Ukraine, according to figures from the U.N. refugee agency.

“I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting, it is time to talk,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Saturday, Reuters reported.

“The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.”