1,834 civilian casualties, 691 deaths recorded as Russian-Ukraine war enters day 21

The United Nations Human Rights office on Tuesday, said it had recorded 1,834 civilian casualties in Ukraine with 691 killed and 1,143 injured, since the Russian invasion of the country on February 24, which entered its 21st day on Wednesday.

“Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes,” the UN humanitarian office said in a statement on its website.

The agency noted that as the invasion drags on, reports have emerged that the Russian military has deliberately targeted civilian areas, though Moscow and the Kremlin have denied the charges.

Human Rights Watch had also accused Russian forces of bombarding an intersection of a road being used by fleeing civilians.

The UN human rights office said last week that “civilians are being killed and maimed in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks” by Russian forces.

In response to the worsening situation, Russia has indicated it will propose a humanitarian resolution to the U.N. Security Council in response to a similar measure drafted by France and Mexico.

The resolution calls “on all parties to respect and protect civilians and to refrain from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless civilian objects, including those that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population and critical to the delivery of essential services,” according to the TASS Russian news agency.

Read also: ‘More than 5,000 Russian soldiers killed or captured in Ukraine,’ claims US official

Additionally, the resolution condemns indiscriminate shelling and attacks on civilians while calling on both countries to respect international law.

“We said from the very beginning that we will be prepared to adopt a humanitarian resolution on the situation in Ukraine, provided that this is not a disguise to blame and shame Russia,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told reporters on Tuesday.

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