Wednesday’s attack in Zaporizhia city caused the highest number of civilian casualties (killed and injured) in a single incident in almost two years, underscoring the threat to civilians from the use of aerial bombs in populated areas, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Thursday, January 9.

Thus, according to HRMMU, on 8 January, two aerial bombs struck an industrial facility in Zaporizhia city, killing 13 civilians and injuring 110.

“The number of killed and injured was the largest HRMMU has recorded since an attack struck a residential building in Dnipro city on 14 January 2023 and the deadliest since an attack hit a supermarket in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, on 9 August 2024,” the message reads.

Monitors from HRMMU visited the site of the 8 January attack, documenting the damage and interviewing victims and witnesses. The HRMMU team observed damage to the industrial facility and to buildings, vehicles and the road outside the facility. The attack took place in the afternoon when many workers at the facility were leaving the plant at the end of their shift. Many of the victims, both workers at the facility and passersby, were killed or injured in the street or on public transportation outside the facility.

“Aerial glide bombs have become one of the greatest threats to civilians in cities along the frontline. They are also one of the main reasons why the number of killed and injured in 2024 increased by 30 per cent compared with 2023,” said Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU.

According to HRMMU’s verified data, published today in its monthly update on the protection of civilians, at least 2,064 civilians were killed and 9,089 injured in 2024, up from 1,971 killed and 6,626 injured in 2023, a rise in large part due to the increased use by Russian armed forces of aerial glide bombs.

Aerial bombs accounted for 360 of the killed and 1,861 of the injured in 2024, a threefold increase in fatalities and a sixfold increase in injuries from aerial bombs compared to 2023, HRMMU said.

The increase in the number of civilian casualties from aerial bombs in 2024 is the result of modifications that allow aerial bombs to glide instead of falling, extending their range to include cities further from the frontline such as Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhia.

HRMMU documented civilian casualties from such glide bombs for the first time in Kharkiv city in early 2024, in Sumy city and region in August 2024, and in Zaporizhia city in September 2024.

Since 22 September, aerial glide bombs have killed at least 35 civilians and injured 308 in Zaporizhia city, accounting for 78 per cent of casualties there. Other significant attacks with aerial glide bombs in Zaporizhia city include one on 6 December 2024, when 10 civilians were killed and 27 injured, including three children, and on 7 November 2024 when nine civilians were killed and 42 injured.

Under international humanitarian law an attacking party must take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm. HRMMU said that Wednesday’s attack raised serious concerns under international humanitarian law.

“It was entirely foreseeable that using such weapons in a city during the day would result in significant civilian casualties. It is hard to see how this attack could be in compliance with the obligation to minimize civilian harm,” said Bell.