Russian shelling kills civilians across Ukraine on May 19
Russian shelling killed civilians in the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions on 19 May, while more than 50 people were injured, including in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, according to the National Police of Ukraine.
A car struck by a Russian drone in Kharkiv OblastThe victims of Russian strikes on 19 May included:
- four civilians in the Sumy region, including a passenger in a car struck by a Russian drone;
- a woman in the Kharkiv Oblast;
- two people in Dnipro.
In addition, a resident of Komyshany in the Kherson Oblast died in hospital after triggering a Russian explosive device.
In the Donetsk Oblast, where Russian forces launched more than 1,200 attacks with various weapons the previous day, 11 residents were injured, including nine in Kramatorsk.
Nine civilians were injured in each of the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson Oblasts.
In the Sumy Oblast, most of the injured were residents of the Hlukhiv “hromada,” a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements. In the Kherson Oblast, the victims were from Zelenivka, Nadiivka, and Kherson, while in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, they were from Dnipro and the Nikopol area.
Damage to a car caused by shrapnel following Russian shelling in the Kherson OblastThe daily report for the Kherson Oblast also included a man who triggered an explosive device in Novooleksiivka on 18 May.
Another four adults and three children were injured in Russian shelling in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, while five adults and a teenager were injured in the Kharkiv Oblast.
ZMINA also reported that Russian shelling killed six civilians in Ukraine on 18 May.
Previously, Interfax-Ukraine reported, citing remarks delivered by Kayoko Gotoh, head of the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, during a UN Security Council meeting on 19 May, that at least 238 civilians were killed and 1,404 injured in Ukraine in April 2026 as a result of Russian attacks.
Gotoh said the figure represented the highest monthly civilian casualty toll since July 2025 and reflected a continuing rise in harm to civilians.
She added that last week was marked by one of the largest aerial bombardments of Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
In total, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has verified the deaths of 15,850 civilians in Ukraine since February 2022, including 791 children. Another 44,809 people, including 2,752 children, have been injured.
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