During the Russo-Ukrainian War (2022–present), the Russian military has continuously carried out deliberate attacks against civilian targets and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says the Russian military exposed the civilian population to unnecessary and disproportionate harm by using cluster bombs and by firing other weapons with wide-area effects into civilian areas, such as missiles, heavy artillery shells, and multiple launch rockets. As of 2026, the attacks had resulted in between the UN-documented 16,000 and an estimated 40,000 dead civilians. On 22 April 2022, the UN reported that of the 2,343 civilian casualties it had been able to document, it could confirm 92.3% of these deaths were as a result of the actions of the Russian armed forces.
On 5 July 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, reported that most civilian casualties documented by her office had been caused by the Russian army's use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas, calling it "indisputable." By 30 June 2023, OHCHR assessed that 90.5% of all civilian deaths were caused by such indiscriminate attacks and that 84.2% of them were recorded in Ukrainian-held territory. estimated that by March 2023 Russian forces were firing at a rate of between 600,000 and 1.8 million shells per month. By February 2024, Russia had fired between 12 and 17 million artillery shells against Ukraine. By the end of 2023, Russian forces launched about 7,400 missiles and 3,900 Shahed drone strikes against Ukraine, according to Ukrainian military officials. Reports on the use of cluster bombs raised concerns about the high number of civilian casualties and the long-lasting danger of unexploded ordnance. According to the OHCHR, cluster bombs have been used by Russian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists in densely populated areas, resulting in civilian casualties.
The deadliest Russian attacks on civilians during the war have been the Mariupol theatre airstrike and the Bucha massacre, which are estimated to have killed hundreds. Other strikes on civilians with high casualties include the April 2022 Kramatorsk railway station attack (which killed 63); 3 March 2022 Chernihiv bombing (which killed 47); the July 2022 Chasiv Yar missile strike (which killed 46), the Zaporizhzhia civilian convoy attack (which killed 32), the 2023 Dnipro residential building airstrike (which killed 46), the 2023 Hroza missile attack (which killed 59), and the 2025 Sumy airstrike (which killed 35 people).
In total, Russia has attacked more than 3000 health care targets,"Ukraine: Over 3,000 attacks on healthcare since full-scale Russian invasion" , United Nations (May 8, 2026) more than 4000 schools and universities,"7 million children of war in Ukraine" Ukrainian Ministry of Education (Retrieved June 16, 2026) more than 2.5 million housing units,"Ukraine faces ‘unprecedented housing crisis’" United Nations (November 16, 2025) more than 700 churches,"Hundreds of Churches Destroyed by Russian Forces in Ukraine" International Christian Concern (March 6, 2026) and killed more than 15,000 civilians as of February 2026.
Chernihiv Oblast
On 3 March 2022, just after 12:00 (UTC+2), six Russian unguided aerial bombs were filmed falling in a residential area in Chernihiv. Analysis by Amnesty International found that (at least) eight bombs fell. Two schools (No. 18 and No. 21) and 8 private houses in the intersection between Viacheslava Chornovila and Kruhova streets () were destroyed; 7 more houses were also heavily damaged in the vicinity of Biloruskyi Lane. Local emergency services recorded 38 men and 9 women killed (47 in total) by the bombing and 18 people injured. As Amnesty International was unable to identify a legitimate military target nearby, it said the attack could be a war crime. Human Rights Watch (HRW) found no evidence of a "significant [military] target in or near the intersection when it was hit, ... pointing to a potentially deliberate or reckless, indiscriminate attack. HRW called for an International Criminal Court investigation and a United Nations commission of inquiry to decide if a war crime had occurred and to hold to account the people responsible. The HRW investigation included telephone interviews with three witnesses and two other Chernihiv residents and analysis of 22 videos and 12 photographs. The witnesses interviewed by HRW stated that they were unaware of military targets or operations in the neighbourhood. Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, stated that the bombing "violated the principles of distinction, of proportionality, the rule on feasible precautions, and the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks." A bomb crater consistent with a 500 kg bomb was found. FAB-500 bombs were known to be used during the invasion.
On 16 March 2022, a Russian attack killed 14 civilians who were waiting in a line for bread in the city. The event was reported by Governor of Chernihiv Oblast Vyacheslav Chaus and the United States Embassy in Kyiv. The incident happened at around 10:00 UTC+3. Victims of the incident were killed following a blast shot from heavy artillery. These civilians were unarmed, and some of them survived the shelling; they were taken to medical facilities by the Chernihiv police. An American citizen was among the dead. Around four hours after the incident, the Chernihiv Regional Prosecutor's Office filed a legal case regarding the attack. The Chernihiv Oblast branch of the Security Service of Ukraine also started an investigation.
On 19 August 2023 at about 11:30 Saturday morning, seven civilians were killed, dozens hospitalized, and over 150 injured after Russian Armed Forces launched a 9М727 Iskander cruise missile and hit the Taras Shevchenko Music and Drama Theater at Krasna Square, the city center. The detonator of the warhead of the missile was configured for air detonation, so all the dead and the vast majority of the injured were from outside the drama theater. According to the acting mayor of the city, the military exhibition held in the building was the likely target. Early reporting indicated five people killed and 42 injured, including 11 children presumably among the injured. The estimates went up to 90 injured, including 25 hospitalized, and six dead after a six-year-old child died in the hospital and then seven dead after another woman's body was found.
On 26 December 2025, senators from the US Democratic and Republican parties condemned Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians gathering to celebrate Christmas, with a Russian drone strike on a multi-story building killing an 80-year-old woman and injuring 10 people, including three children.
On 2 March 2026, an 88-year-old woman was reported to have been killed by Russian drones in Snovsk. On 12 March, the city council of Mena said that a Russian attack damaging two residential buildings resulted in the death of a 15-year-old girl and her parents being injured.
On 17 July 2026, governor Chaus said that Russian drone attacks injured five civilians in the region. Ten days later, the local administration said that a Russian drone had struck an ATB supermarket, killing two people including a child, while injuring 20 people.
On 26 August 2026, the Bazhaiemo Zdorovia pharmacy chain said that one of its pharmacy assistants and her four-year-old daughter had been killed in a Russian attack on Chernihiv during the morning.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast On 7 April 2022, there were three strikes on the oblast during the day. Russian forces struck Synelnykove and Kryvyi Rih raions. About four people died and seven were injured. Two civilians also went missing.
Dnipro strikes
On 11 March 2022, three missiles hit the city and killed one person, striking close to an apartment building and a kindergarten. On 28 June, Russian forces fired six 3M-14E Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea to Dnipro at around 5:30 local time. One of them hit an Avtodiesel car repair shop, killing a man and a woman. Seven other people, including a six-year-old boy, were injured. Fragments of the Kalibr missile were found afterwards.
On the morning of 29 September 2022, missiles hit residential areas in Dnipro, and three people were killed. The central bus station was also hit. Dnipro was also hit during the 10 October 2022 Russian missile strikes. It was hit by at least five missiles. During the attack that took place during morning rush hour, three civilians were killed.
On 18 October 2022, Russian missiles hit energy infrastructure in Dnipro. One man was injured, and a large-scale fire broke out at an energy facility that was severely damaged; more than three dozen residential buildings were damaged, including schools and kindergartens. On 25 October 2022, two people were killed, including a pregnant woman, and four were injured due to a fire at a gas station after fragments of a Russian missile hit it.
On 26 November 2022, around noon, a Russian missile strike on Dnipro injured 13 people and partially destroyed seven private houses in Dnipro's Amur-Nyzhnodniprovskyi District. Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov reported that city communications and infrastructure were not damaged. Governor Valentyn Reznichenko stated that due to the attack, one woman was hospitalised in critical condition. The following day Reznichenko reported that a man was found dead under the rubble. Another Russian missile strike destroyed an enterprise on the night of 29 November 2022; no casualties were reported.
On 28 July 2025, a Russian missile strike on Kamianske damaged multiple buildings, including a maternity hospital. Two civilians were killed and five were wounded, including two women critically, one of them pregnant.
On 29 April 2025, regional governor Lysak said that Russia had launched a mass drone attack on Dnipro using Shahed drones, setting several homes on fire and killing one 53-year-old man.
On 24 March 2026, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, said that nine people had been injured by a Russian drone striking a 14-storey building in Dnipro, including an 18-month-old boy.
On 14 April 2026, Hanzha said that a Russian attack during the morning on the central Dnipropetrovsk region killed five people and wounded 27. On 23 April, Hanzha reported another attack, with Russian drones killing two people and wounding 10, with two young girls aged nine and 14 being among the wounded as the attack damaged infrastructure, including a 13-story residential building.
On 17 July 2026, Hanzha said that 73-year-old man had been injured in a Russian attack.
On 1 August 2026, the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office said that two people were killed and 12 injured in Russian attacks, which included an FPV drone striking a passenger bus.
On 5 September 2026, Hanzha reported Russian attacks across six districts, resulting in one person being killed and five wounded.
Dnipro apartment block strike
On 14 January 2023 at about 3:30p.m., a Russian Kh-22 type missile hit a nine-story residential building in Dnipro on , Sobornyi District in the right-bank part of the city, destroying one entrance and 236 apartments. On 19 January, the official casualty rate was stated as 46 people killed, 80 injured (12 in critical condition), and 11 people reported missing. 14 children were reported among the injured, and 39 inhabitants were rescued. The destruction left about 400 people homeless. This strike became the most destructive Russian attack on a residential building in Ukraine in the last six months. A three-day period of mourning was declared in Dnipro.
February 2026 drone strike on bus carrying mineworkers