War in Ukraine: how many civilians died from Russian attacks in 2025
13 January 11:03
During 2025, approximately 2,400 civilians were killed and nearly 12,000 were injured as a result of Russian military actions in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg, citing a report by European governments on casualties in Ukraine, as reported by Komersant.
This figure is almost 30% higher than in 2024. In total, since the start of the Russian invasion, an estimated 14,900 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 40,400 injured. Among the dead are 758 Ukrainian children, and 2,445 minors have been wounded, the report says.
More than 2,000 recorded deaths of Ukrainian civilians from Russian bombs and drones in 2025 occurred after US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin in March, during which the leaders agreed to start negotiations on a ceasefire, according to European data. The report states that Russia carried out 40 of the largest air strikes of the entire war against Ukraine within a few months after the first direct talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul in May in three years.
In the second half of the year — mainly after Trump’s August meeting with Putin in Alaska — Moscow launched an average of 5,300 drones per month against Ukraine, according to estimates. This is more than five times the average monthly figure for 2024. After reports emerged in November of Trump’s 28-point “peace plan,” Russia launched more than 9,000 drones and 350 missiles at Ukrainian cities, killing more than 220 civilians.
These figures prove that Putin does not take peace talks seriously, European officials told Bloomberg. It may also indicate that the Russian president is trying to gain leverage in the negotiations by demonstrating his willingness to escalate violence and undermine Ukraine’s morale, the officials said.
The data in the report from European countries corresponds to the estimates of the UN Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The organization’s report notes that over the past year, 2,514 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 12,142 wounded in Russian attacks. It is noted that there are more elderly people among the victims, as many of them remain in frontline settlements.
Due to the Russian invasion, Ukraine has been recognized as the most heavily mined country in the world for four years. According to estimates by the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), by June 2025, the area of the country covered by mines and other explosive objects will reach 139,000 square kilometers, which exceeds the size of England (130,000 square kilometers).
According to ISPI, more than 6 million people live in and near dangerous areas of Ukraine. Paul Heslop, head of the UN demining program in Ukraine, noted that almost 25% of the country’s territory is covered with explosive devices, amounting to more than 1 million such devices. According to a UN survey, 13% of Ukrainians have found mines.
According to the ACLED report, published on the eve of the third anniversary of the war, there were more than 1,600 civilian casualties in 2024, which is 16% more than in the previous year.
