Since Cease-Fire Talks Began, Life in Ukraine Has Become More Dangerous, U.N. Says

With the beginning of cease-fire talks in the war between Russia and Ukraine, life has become riskier for Ukrainian civilians, according to a tally of civilian deaths by the United Nations and analysts reviewing recent Russian strikes.

Since the talks began in February, Russian missile and drone strikes and fighting along the front line have killed far more civilians than over the same period a year ago, U.N. officials said in a presentation for diplomats in New York this week. In the first 24 days of April, for example, 848 civilians were killed or wounded, a 46 percent increase over the same period last year, the U.N. said.

At the same time, Russia has been targeting cities more intensively — just last month hitting a playground, pedestrians on a crowded sidewalk and an apartment building — an analysis of recent strikes show. In the fighting on the ground, Russia opened a new offensive in the north, east and south, Ukraine’s top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, said on April 9.

On March 11, Ukraine launched on Moscow its largest drone assault of the entire war — the morning of the day it agreed to a cease-fire. The barrage killed three people and wounded 18 others in the Russian capital and nearby, the Russian authorities said.

Overall, the first months of this year coinciding with the Trump administration’s peace talks have clocked in as far deadlier than the same period last year, according to the United Nations.

Inspecting the damage to an apartment building in a Russian village outside Moscow where a downed Ukrainian drone fell on March 11.Credit…Associated Press