GENEVA

At least 953 civilians have been killed and 1,557 others wounded since Russia launched a war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, as the number fleeing the country exceeded 3.5 million, the UN said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that 40 children were among the people killed in Ukraine.

Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems and missile and airstrikes, the statement said.

“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed,” it added.

The human rights office said it noted a report of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine which said that 117 children had been killed and more than 155 injured since Russia launched the war.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had verified 62 attacks on health care in Ukraine that have caused 15 deaths and 37 injuries.

The head of the Europe regional office of the WHO visited the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Tuesday, where he held a press conference with the country's health minister after holding talks with the president.

Terrible toll

“The war in Ukraine has taken a terrible toll on the health and well-being of millions of people, both physical and mental, triggering the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War,” Kluge said.

Moldova is a former Soviet republic like Ukraine with a population of just over 4 million, but some 368,000 people fleeing the war have passed through it.

Poland, also a former Soviet bloc country, has taken more than 2.1 million refugees fleeing the war.

Paloma Cuchi, WHO representative in Poland, told UN journalists in Geneva that the latest figures show 6.5 million have been displaced internally within Ukraine.

She said that about two-thirds of refugees want to stay in Poland, close to home.

“Access to health care is severely restricted in Ukraine. On top of that, refugees have a long, difficult, and dangerous journey to the border of Poland,” said Cuchi.

She said: “Children who have been traveling for days (2-3 days) without proper food or water are tired and worried.

“Senior refugees have been without their medications for days, leading to decompensated diabetes, blood pressure, and other health problems. Pregnant women are without prenatal care.”

Romania, another neighbor of Ukraine, has accepted more than 543,000 refugees, Hungary over 317,000, and Slovakia around 253,000.

Russia has also received more than 252,000 refugees.