Death Toll in Eastern Ukraine Crisis Passes 9,000

The total death toll since mid-April last year in Donbass is at least 9,098, with another 20,732 injured, according to a fresh UN report.

GENEVA(Sputnik) — More than 9,000 people have been killed and over 20,000 injured since the start of the armed conflict in Ukraine one and a half years ago, a fresh UN report said on Wednesday.

"The total death toll since mid-April last year is at least 9,098, with another 20,732 injured," the twelfth report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said.

These figures include civilians and armed forces loyal to the government in Kiev and authorities in the self-proclaimed people’s republics in Ukraine’s southeast.

The mission estimates that 47 civilians were killed and 131 others were injured between August and November 2015. The latest casualties have been largely attributed to detonating explosive remnants of war (ERW). The United Nations has called for extensive mine clearance.

The UN mission praised the current "ceasefire within the ceasefire" between the warring parties in Ukraine. It was reaffirmed in August 2015 and went into effect on September 1, leading to a considerable decrease in hostilities.