United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the recent strikes on populated areas by both Russia and Ukraine, as the civilian death toll in the four-year war surged sharply in 2026.
In a statement delivered August 6 by Spokesperson Farhan Haq, Guterres called for an immediate end to the intensifying long-range artillery war between Moscow and Kyiv.
The conflict reportedly resulted in “a record-level increase in numbers of civilian casualties and widespread destruction of residential and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, as well as increasingly in the Russian Federation.”
“This latest series of attacks follows an alarming pattern of escalating strikes against populated areas… Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and must stop immediately,” the UN chief said.
Latest attacks
The statement follows Ukraine’s overnight bombing of two oil refineries in the Bashkortostan and Yaroslavl regions of Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the development on social media early Thursday, saying the attacks “were straightening the prospects for diplomacy.”
Accompanying the announcement was a video from a Russian channel of black smoke rising above an oil facility.
“Russia must choose peace,” Zelensky added.
A day earlier, at least 17 people were killed after Russian ballistic missiles were fired at Kyiv, reportedly resulting in extensive damage at seven locations across the capital city, including a multi-storey building, warehouses and other civilian infrastructure.
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The attack was widely seen as Russia’s retaliation to Ukraine’s campaign targeting Wilberries, the former’s largest online retailer and e-commerce marketplace.
Russian bombardment was also reported in the northeastern region of Kharkiv on Wednesday, killing at least two people at the Lozova train station.
A commercial vessel carrying Ukrainian wheat was also targeted in the Black Sea by Russia, killing one person, the governor of southwestern Odessa region has confirmed, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
Cessation needed
These recent attacks on both territories indicate an increasingly deadly escalation in the ongoing war, which began in February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The invasion hampered the latter nation’s plan to integrate with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU).
In the first six months of 2026, UN monitors documented a “sharp increase” in the number of civilians killed in the four-year armed conflict compared to the same period in 2024 and 2025.
UN experts on human rights attribute the trend to Russia’s increased use of long-range weapons “past the frontline.”
“The increasing use of ballistic missiles and other long-range weapons in populated areas is contributing to rising civilian casualties and widespread damage to homes, businesses and other civilian infrastructure,” Danielle Bell, Head of Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said in a statement.
Matthias Schmale, the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator and top official in Ukraine, has called for the cessation of violence against the civilian population, warning that with continued aerial attacks, “more families have been left devastated, displaced or struggling to rebuild their lives.”
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Eugene Nicklaus S. Laqui 
Newsjustnews writers 
Levi Mora