We are alarmed by reports of continued shelling in Debaltseve, but have so far not managed to get reliable information on the fighting or casualties in the area. We are particularly concerned about the civilians trapped in the area – we believe there may be a few thousand hiding in cellars, struggling to get food, water and other basic necessities. It is unclear how many civilians are still there. 

The days preceding the ceasefire, which began at midnight on 15 February, were marked by intense hostilities with numerous military and civilian casualties reported. In general, during the first two days of the ceasefire, the number of reported casualties, especially civilian, decreased dramatically. Though artillery and small arms exchanges did not cease completely, their impact on civilian population, apparently, considerably decreased. So far we have only been able to document a few cases: two civilians were reported killed in Popasna in Luhansk region on Sunday, and several civilians were reported wounded in Avdiivka in Donetsk region on Monday. 

We are working to verify these and other reports of civilian casualties during the ceasefire period. 

Overall, since the beginning of the conflict in mid-April 2014 and until 15 February, 5,665 people were killed and 13,961 were wounded in the east of Ukraine. This is the data available at this point. The UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine and the World Health Organization anticipate a further increase in figures in the coming days because reporting on casualties during the pre-ceasefire period was considerably delayed due to ongoing hostilities. 

The UN Human Rights Office will issue its next full report on the human rights situation in Ukraine on 2 March 2015. 

ENDS 

For more information or media requests, please contact Rupert Colville  (+41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org) or Ravina Shamdasani(+41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org ) or Cécile Pouilly (+41 22 917 9310 / cpouilly@ohchr.org).