"Close to 8,000 people have lost their lives in eastern Ukraine since mid-April 2014," the OHCHR quoted its head, Zeid Raad Hussein, as saying, adding that over 17,800 have been injured during the same period.
The 105 deaths and 308 injuries in May-August accounted for a twofold increase from the 60 deaths and 102 injuries recorded during the period February-May, the organization elaborated in the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine’s 11th report.
"The shelling of residential areas on both sides of the contact line has led to a disturbing increase in the number of civilian casualties over the past three months," Hussein stressed.
He called on the government-led forces and independence supporters in Donbass to adhere to the ceasefire agreement signed earlier this year.
A reaffirmed commitment to the ceasefire regime came into force in southeast Ukraine on September 1, with the withdrawal of arms with a caliber of under 100-mm expected to be completed soon.
In drawing attention to the plight of civilians in the country, the OHCHR noted the severe restrictions in their movement due to the Ukrainian government’s so-called temporary order for local residents.
It also decried a "persistent pattern of arbitrary and incommunicado detention by the Ukrainian law enforcement and by military and paramilitary units" accompanied by the torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
