Almost 8,000 people are confirmed dead in the 17 months of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the United Nations' human rights agency said Tuesday in a report that admonished Russia's involvement in the deadly crisis.
The report by the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine noted that large-scale offensives have been few in recent months but that the number of civilian deaths and injuries had more than doubled since May in comparison with the previous three-month period.
The rising toll among innocents results from the pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian government forces waging artillery attacks on populated areas, the report noted.