Death toll in Ukraine conflict tops 5,000, UN says, as peace talks falter
United Nations human rights office says death toll in the conflict in Ukraine that began last April now exceeds 5,000 – and may be far more
The death toll in the conflict in Ukraine that began last April now exceeds 5,000 and may be far more, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.
“The significant escalation in hostilities has taken the toll to 5,086 individuals and we fear the real figure may be considerably higher,” UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.
The toll includes 262 people killed in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the past nine days, “the most deadly period” since a ceasefire was declared in early September, he said.
The UN refugee agency said that new Ukrainian government security regulations were hampering efforts to deliver aid to conflict zones in the east and making life harder for the displaced.
A top Ukrainian separatist leader said on Friday he would not push for new peace talks with Kiev and warned that his forces were launching a new offensive to expand their control.
“Our side will no longer push for any more truce talks,” Donetsk rebel chief Alexander Zakharchenko said in comments published on a Ukrainian separatist website.