Russia - Ukraine War: UN confirms at least 136 civilians killed, real toll likely far higher

At least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, a United Nations agency has said.

“The real toll is likely to be much higher,” Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR), told a briefing, adding that 253 of the casualties were in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Reports of civilian casualties streamed in overnight as Russian forces stepped up their bombardment of major cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said in a Telegram post that seven people were killed in an attack on a government building and 24 people, including a child were wounded.

Russian forces are continuing to bombard Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv, firing on residential neighbourhoods as well as the city’s main square, according to a local official.

An adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said four people, including a child, were killed when homes in the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr were hit by a Russian cruise missile.

Anton Gerashchenko said on his Telegram channel that the missile was apparently aimed at a nearby base of the 95th Airborne Brigade in Zhytomyr, 120km (75 miles) west of Kyiv.

Residential buildings near the base were on fire and “so far, four people have died. Including a child,” he said.