A/HRC/43/CRP.7
injured in Government-controlled territory in Donetsk region, both attributable to armed
groups of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’.
23.
For example, on 18 December 2019, a man was killed by sniper fire while sitting on
a bench next to his house in Government-controlled Marinka (Donetsk region). On 30
January 2020, a woman was injured by mortar shelling while at home in armed groupcontrolled Donetskyi (Luhansk region). On the same day, a man in armed group-controlled
Holubivske (Luhansk region) was in the yard of his house when he was injured by shrapnel
from a mortar round.
24.
Mine-related incidents13 and the handling of explosive remnants of war (ERW)14
resulted in ten civilian casualties: one killed (a man) and nine injured (seven men, one woman
and one boy). This is a 50 per cent decrease compared with the previous reporting period
(when six were killed and 14 injured). Of those affected during the reporting period, five
injured were recorded in territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’; and one death
and four injuries in Government-controlled territory in Donetsk region.
25.
For example, on 6, 17 and 18 January 2020, three men were injured in mine-related
incidents while walking near or fishing in Siverskyi Donets River (all in territory controlled
by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’). This area is heavily contaminated by mines, booby traps
and unexploded ordnance, and OHCHR has recorded dozens of such casualties there in
previous years, especially in 2015 and 2016. On 11 January 2020, a man was killed by the
detonation of an RPG-7 grenade which he had brought to his home from elsewhere in
Government-controlled Shevchenko (Donetsk region).
2.
Civilian casualties in 2019
26. From 1 January to 31
December 2019, OHCHR recorded
167 conflict-related civilian
casualties: 27 killed (16 men, 10
women and a boy) and 140
injured (80 men, 40 women, 11
boys and nine girls). This is a 40.6
per cent decrease compared with
2018 (281 casualties: 55 killed and
226 injured) and the lowest annual
civilian casualty figures for the
entire conflict period.
27.
In 2019, 105 of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by shelling and SALW
fire (eight killed and 97 injured), a 33.1 per cent decrease compared with 2018 (157
casualties: 21 killed and 136 injured). Of them: 85 (five killed and 80 injured; 81 per cent)
were recorded in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘republics’, 18 (three killed and
15 injured; 17.1 per cent) in Government-controlled territory, and two (both injuries) in ‘no
man’s land’.15
13
14
15
8
Incidents in which civilians were killed or injured by mines (antipersonnel or anti-vehicle) or
explosive devices triggered in the same way, such as booby traps, or by ERW inadvertently detonated
by unsuspecting civilians.
Victims of ERW handling manipulate an ERW for a certain period of time and make additional
efforts to detonate it (for instance, by trying to dismantle it), or were close to someone who was
manipulating an ERW.
In 2018, civilian casualties caused by shelling and SALW fire were distributed as follows: 123 (78.3
per cent) were recorded in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘republics’, 27 (17.2 per cent) in
Government-controlled territory, and seven in ‘no man’s land’.
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