Over the past six months, the number of confirmed civilian casualties in Ukrainian government-controlled territories has increased by more than 50% compared to the same period last year, primarily due to Russia's use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas.
This is stated in the seventh monitoring report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on violations of international law by Russia in Ukraine.
“ODIHR’s monitoring of hostilities confirmed that from December 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025, the Russian Federation continued to use explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the principles of distinction and proportionality. As a result, the number of confirmed civilian casualties in government-controlled areas of Ukraine was over 50% higher than during the same period in 2024,” the report states.
According to the document, the advance of Russian forces and increased attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure have worsened the humanitarian situation and triggered large-scale displacement from frontline communities.
ODIHR also continued to interview victims and gather testimony from relatives and lawyers of individuals who were or remain arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
“New evidence collected by ODIHR confirms previously documented patterns, including the categories of targeted individuals, the absence of legal grounds for detention, and systematic denial of procedural safeguards and contact with the outside world,” the report adds.
Furthermore, new information corroborates previous findings of widespread and systematic use of torture by Russian authorities against detained Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
The OSCE’s human rights bureau also obtained new evidence of conflict-related sexual violence. For the first time, ODIHR was able to document exact locations where these crimes were committed. “The types of sexual violence perpetrated against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war remain consistent with those previously reported in ODIHR’s earlier interim reports,” the document notes.
Additionally, ODIHR collected further witness testimony regarding Russia’s attempts to change the status and nature of the occupied Ukrainian territories in violation of international humanitarian law — including creating conditions in which residing in occupied areas depended on acquiring Russian citizenship.
The Bureau also continued to receive evidence of the use of judicial mechanisms and “deportations” as tools to suppress dissent among the civilian population in occupied areas of Ukraine.
