The death rate in eastern Ukraine has increased in the last month, as the September ceasefire agreement remains shaky, the UN says. A new report says almost 1,000 people have been killed in the past eight weeks, reports GHN based on DW.
According to the report released by the United Nations on Thursday, 957 people, including civilians, Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russia separatist combatants, were killed in the period since a truce agreement was signed in Minsk on September 5, to November 18.
"Respect for the ceasefire has been sporadic at best," UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said.
On average, 13 people have died per day in continued outbreaks of fighting and shelling. A previous report in October put the daily death toll at 10.
In total, more than 4,317 people have died since the conflict between Ukraine's army and the separatists broke out in Ukraine's east in April - meaning that the casualty rate has fallen since the introduction of the ceasefire.
That figure includes the 298 people killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 went down in the region in July. Almost 10,000 people have been wounded, according to the UN figures, which the report's writers described as a very conservative estimate.