The civilian toll of Russian attacks on Ukraine

"The Russian army does not strike at civilian facilities," Vladimir Putin said in June. But independent observers disagree. UN figures estimate that, as of August 22, the civilian toll of Russian attacks had reached 5,500 deaths and 7,800 injuries since the war began. Here, a destroyed shopping center in Kremenchuk on June 27.

A huge crater in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chaplyne, population 3,800, which was targeted in a Russian attack on August 24. The Defense Ministry in Moscow later said a weapons transport train had been hit. But, according to the Ukrainian railway, 25 civilians, including two children, were also killed.

With a missile attack on July 14, the Russian army aimed to hit the "House of Officers" in Vinnytsia, where "preparations by Ukrainian armed forces were underway," said Evgeny Varganov, a member of Russia's permanent UN mission. As a result, 28 people died in the city southwest of Kyiv, including three children and three officers. More than 100 people were reportedly injured.

On the evening of July 9, the small eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar came under fire. Uragan multiple-rocket launchers took aim at residential areas, media reported. A five-story apartment building was hit particularly hard, with 48 bodies later recovered from the rubble.

At least 21 people were killed in a missile attack in Serhiivka on July 1. The town near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa was apparently hit with cruise missiles by night, injuring at least 35, Amnesty International reported after on-site investigations. Serhiivka is a popular resort town, especially among Russian tourists.

Horrific images from Kramatorsk went around the world on April 8, after several Russian missiles hit the crowded train station in the eastern Ukrainian city. Some 61 people were killed, including seven children. Ballistics experts found that the missiles were fired from the Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine.

Bucha has become emblematic of the Russian army's brutal war crimes in Ukraine. When Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv suburb on March 30, numerous corpses lay in Yablunska Street. A total of 1,316 bodies were found in and around the city, with international investigative teams citing evidence of civilian executions by Russian soldiers. The Kremlin denies the reports of a massacre.

On March 29, an airstrike hit the Mykolaiv regional administration building, killing 36. The central part of the building was completely destroyed from the first to the ninth floor, with only fragments left standing. The explosion also damaged several other nearby residential and administrative buildings.

On March 16, a bombing destroyed a theater in the center of Mariupol where civilians were sheltering. The word "children," written in huge white letters both in front of and behind the building, did not deter the attack. The city reported that 300 people died. However, an AP investigation in May estimated that the number may have been closer to 600.

A Russian air strike destroyed a children's hospital with a maternity ward in Mariupol on March 9. At least four people died, including a pregnant woman and her baby. At least 17 were injured. Though Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of a "staged provocation," top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called the bombing a "war crime."

A missile that hit a regional administrative building in Kharkiv killed 24, including passersby, on March 1. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry later released a surveillance video that showed the powerful explosion in the city's central Freedom Square, which was heavily damaged in the attack.

As of August 26, more than 29,000 war crimes had been committed since the war began, according to Ukrainian officials. Independent investigations are underway, and the International Criminal Court has sent teams of experts to gather evidence. Under the Geneva Conventions, deliberate attacks on civilians are war crimes. Russia, however, does not recognize this part of the treaties.