During the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War between the Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine that began in April 2014, many international organisations and states noted a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the conflict zone.

A May 2014 report by the United Nations said there had been an "alarming deterioration" in human rights in territory held by Russian separatists affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported growing lawlessness in the region, documenting cases of targeted killings, torture, and abduction. HRMMU also reported threats against, attacks on, and abductions of journalists and international observers, as well as the beatings and attacks on supporters of Ukrainian unity. A report by Human Rights Watch said "Anti-Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine are abducting, attacking, and harassing people they suspect of supporting the Ukrainian government or consider undesirable... anti-Kiev insurgents are using beatings and kidnappings to send the message that anyone who doesn't support them had better shut up or leave".

Non-governmental organisations, such as Amnesty International, also raised concerns about the behaviour of some Ukrainian volunteer battalions. Amnesty International said that they often acted like "renegade gangs", and were implicated in torture, abductions, and summary executions.

In a report from HRMMU, again in May 2014, Ivan Šimonović, UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, wrote about illegal detention, abduction and intimidation of election officials in the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics, and called for urgent action to prevent a Balkans-style war. He also warned of a humanitarian crisis due to a failure of social services in the region, and an exodus of people from affected areas. In October 2015, the DPR and LPR banned non-governmental organisations such as Doctors Without Borders and World Food Programme from the territory that they control. A report released on 3 March 2016 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that people that lived in separatist-controlled areas were experiencing "complete absence of rule of law, reports of arbitrary detention, torture and incommunicado detention, and no access to real redress mechanisms". In addition, the report noted "allegations of violations perpetrated with impunity by Ukrainian law enforcement officials—mainly elements of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)—including enforced disappearances, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, and torture and ill-treatment".Ukraine: growing despair among over three million civilians in conflict zone – UN report, United Nations (3 March 2016)

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), "The results of a psychosocial assessment of children in Donetsk Oblast in Eastern Ukraine are deeply troubling ... and indicate that about half of all children aged 7–18 have been directly exposed to adverse or threatening events during the current crisis." OSCE monitors spoke to refugees from Donetsk city in Zaporizhia. They said that men were "often not allowed" to leave the city, but were instead "forcibly enrolled in 'armed forces' of the so-called 'Donetsk People's Republic' or obliged to dig trenches".

By June 2015, the conflict had created 1.3 million internally displaced people (IDPs). According to the OHCHR, this number had grown to 1.6 million people by early March 2016. As of December 2022, the total number of IDPs has increased to 5.9 Million following the Russian invasion.

Casualties

A report by the OHCHR released on 28 July 2014 said that based on "conservative estimates", at least 1,129 civilians had been killed since mid-April during the fighting, and that at least 3,442 had been wounded. Another OHCHR report, released on 20 November, estimated that the overall number of people killed in the conflict had risen to 4,317, and that at least 9,921 had been wounded.

Amidst a large-scale escalation in fighting during January and February 2015, the number of casualties greatly increased. According to another OHCHR report based on Ukrainian government sources, 843 people were killed in Donbas from 13 January to 15 February. 359 of these were civilians. 3,410 people were injured during the same period, of which 916 were civilians. By 15 February 2015, 5,665 people had been killed since the start of the war in mid-April 2014, whilst 13,961 had been injured. According to the report, these numbers were "very conservative", and based only on "available data". The report went on to say that "the actual number of casualties is likely to be far higher since military and civilian casualties remain under-reported". On 19 February 2016 UNICEF stated that in 2015 more than 20 children were killed and over 40 were injured.

Land mines laid during the conflict have also taken civilian victims. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine has stated it had cleared Donbas of more than 44,000 mines by early December 2015. It is currently unclear how many unexploded devices remain. According to UNICEF in 2015 28 children had been casualties due to mines and unexploded ordnance.

According to a United Nations early March 2016 report over 3 million people lived in the conflict zone. 2.7 million of them lived in the areas controlled by separatist forces, while 200,000 people resided in the proximity to the contact line.

Refugees Some refugees from the Donbas fled to parts of western and central Ukraine, such as Poltava Oblast. Around 2,000 families from the Donbas were reported to have taken refuge in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. Other refugees from Luhansk fled to Russia during the week-long ceasefire that was declared 23 June 2014 and in effect until 27 June. As of June 2014, at least 110,000 people had left Ukraine for Russia in the wake of the conflict, according to a United Nations report. Refugees clustered around Rostov-on-Don, with 12,900 people, including 5,000 children, housed in public buildings and tent camps there. Similarly, the report stated that around 54,400 are internally displaced people (IDPs) within Ukraine itself.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 refugees arrived in Svyatogorsk from Sloviansk after the Ukrainian Armed Forces intensified shelling on the city at the end of May 2014. Remaining residents of the besieged city were without water, gas, and electricity. Despite this, most residents remained. Russian officials said that 70,000 refugees had fled across the border into Russia since the fighting began. Starting on 30 May, at least 1,589 refugees from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts were provided temporary accommodation in railway stations and railway hotels by Southern Railways. The largest number of refugees, 1,409 people, stayed at Kharkiv-Pasazhyrskiy railway station.

Camps for internally displaced people were established in Kharkiv Oblast. OSCE monitors visited one camp at Havryshi, in Bohodukhiv Raion, after northern Donetsk Oblast had been retaken by government forces. Some of those displaced people had visited Sloviansk, and said that there was a lack of water, electrical power, food, and that banks were not operating. Some decided to continue to stay in the camp until conditions in Sloviansk improved, whereas others decided to return. By 16 July, thirty-six people had returned to Sloviansk. Another seventy people were meant to return on the day. Some sixty-five from other conflict areas also checked into the camp. According to railway operators, some 3,100 people used the Kharkiv–Sloviansk railway from 9–14 July. OSCE monitors also met with some refugees in Zaporizhzhia. The refugees said that many residents of Donetsk wanted to leave, but were unable to because they lacked the financial resources to do so. Trains leaving Donetsk were said to be filled to capacity, forcing many refugees to use private motorcars to escape.

According to a United Nations OHCHR report, the number of internal refugees created by conflict reached 101,617 on 25 July 2014, an increase of more than 15,000 since 15 July. The report also said that at least 130,000 had fled to Russia. OSCE monitors visited Sievierodonetsk on 29 July, after the city had been recaptured by governments forces. According to the OSCE, the situation had normalised, and the city had not been "severely damaged" during the conflict. The city's mayor said that 40% of the 120,000 residents had fled during war.

By early August, at least 730,000 had fled fighting in the Donbas and left for Russia. This number, much larger than earlier estimates, was given by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Numbers of internal refugees rose to 117,000. By the start of September, after a sharp escalation over the course of August, the number of people displaced people from Donbas within Ukraine more than doubled to 260,000. The number of refugees that fled from Donbas to Russia rose to 814,000. The UNHCR expressed concerns over the displaced refugees as the winter sets in and was providing supplies to help them cope with the winter.

Having been inundated with refugees from the Donbas, the Russian government established a resettlement programme that was meant to encourage refugees to settle in "far-flung" parts of Russia. This programme included guarantees of employment, accommodation, pensions, and a path to Russian citizenship. According to a 31 August report by the administration of Rostov Oblast, 42,718 Donbas refugees had been transported to cities across Russia for resettlement.

As the shaky ceasefire implemented by the Minsk Protocol became increasingly untenable in early November 2014, it was reported that the number of people that had fled insurgent-held areas of Donbas had reached one and a half million. About half of these fled to Russia, and the other half fled to peaceful parts of Ukraine. As such, the population of insurgent-held Donbas had decreased by a third from its pre-war level. Those forced to stay in the region were largely elderly, destitute, or otherwise unable to flee. Schools became greatly diminished, as roughly half of the pre-war population of school-age children had left Donbas. According to an OHCHR report, the number of refugees displaced from Donbas within Ukraine was 466,829 in mid November.

Increased fighting during January and February 2015 led to a sharp increase in the number of people displaced from Donbas. According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the number of registered IDPs had reached 711,209 by 13 February 2015. Accommodation for IDPs in areas neighbouring the conflict zone had been exhausted by this point. Instead, refugees that arrived at reception points in cities like Sloviansk and Kharkiv were granted a free train ticket to areas in southern and western Ukraine.

In June 2015, the UN identified that 75% of the IDPs had resettled amidst their communities in the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk.

According to a United Nations early March 2016 report 1.6 million people were registered internally displaced by the Ukrainian government. 800,000 to 1 million of them lived within Ukrainian government controlled Ukraine.

Abductions and torture