GENEVA

The UN human rights chief on Tuesday said July was the "deadliest month" for the civilians in Ukraine since October 2022. 

Volker Turk's remarks came during his oral update on the findings in the report on the human rights situation in Ukraine at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Nothing that the war in Ukraine is approaching 1,000 days, Turk said this period was marked by "massive destruction, death, and injury, displaced and tormented families – and widespread violations of international law."

"This war has quickly become a tragic, flagrant example of the devastation of war on people, the environment, and a common future," he said.

Stressing that the human rights office verified 45% more civilian casualties between June and August than in the previous three-month period, he said: "July 2024 was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since October 2022."

This 45% increase is due to the July 8 "large-scale coordinated attack by the Russian Federation against targets across Ukraine, continued missile, drone and aerial bomb strikes, and continuing assaults by Russian armed forces seeking to capture further Ukrainian territory," he said.

Turk warned that, at the same time, "insidious violations" of international human rights and humanitarian law continue in "places of detention hidden from the view of independent monitors."