Year of East Ukraine Hostilities Leaves 6,116 Dead – UN

The real number of the dead and injured could be much higher since many people are still missing and hundreds of bodies remain to be identified, the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina said.

GENEVA (Sputnik) – A total of 6,116 people were killed and 15,474 injured since the civil conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out about a year ago, Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani said Friday.

“Since April, 2014 at least 6,116 people, both military personnel and civilians, have been killed and 15,474 wounded. These figures are estimates up to the 14th of April,” she said.

According to Shamdasani, the real number of the dead and injured could be much higher since many people are still missing and hundreds of bodies remain to be identified.

In 2015 alone, about 400 civilians died due to indiscriminate bombings in residential areas of Donbass, inlcuding mines and unexploded ordnance, Shamdasani added.

The military operation in Ukraine’s eastern regions began in April 2014, aimed to suppress local independence supporters who refused to recognize a government that rose to power as the result of a February coup.

In February, Kiev and independence supporters signed the Minsk agreement, worked out by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine and stipulating a ceasefire in eastern regions, a second such attempt in half a year.

The truce is generally holding, but sporadic attacks and shelling continue to occur.

First year of the military operation in south-eastern Ukraine

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