![\"Smoke](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8c86ed9ba0838adfe1fbb68023351311.jpeg\"\/)
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Smoke raises above the city in sunrise following an intensive Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 24, 2026. via Associated Press<\/p>\n
Vladimir Putin\u2019s war in Ukraine is on the cusp of \u201cdangerous\u201d escalation, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker T\u00fcrk, called<\/a> for \u201crestraint\u201d on Thursday after civilian casualties in Ukraine had risen sharply.<\/p>\n He pointed out that the number of civilians killed or injured in Ukraine during the first four months of 2026 increased by 21% compared to the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n The UN said 815 civilians were killed and 4,174 injured between January and April this year, while a total of 682 were killed and 3,453 injured in 2025.<\/p>\n Putin has seized approximately a fifth of Ukraine\u2019s sovereign land since invading more than four years ago, and continues to bomb the rest of the country.<\/p>\n Most of the recorded casualties have occurred in Ukraine-controlled land.<\/p>\n The recent uptick comes after a flurry of large-scale attacks, including on a residential building in Kyiv on May 13 and 14, which killed 24 people and injured dozens more.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk also pointed to the retaliatory attacks from Ukrainian armed forces after they hit an educational complex in Russia earlier this week, killing 21 people and injured 44 others, according to Russian authorities.<\/p>\n \u201cInternational humanitarian law demands that parties to a conflict take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm \u2013 these are not simply suggestions or recommendations, but binding obligations carrying legal responsibility for those involved,\u201d Turk said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as if all these casualty figures weren\u2019t horrifying enough on their own, following these attacks, Russian officials have publicly threatened to increase attacks across Kyiv.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI deplore the recent loss of civilian lives and injuries to civilians,\u201d the UN figure said, adding:\u00a0\u201cI strongly urge restraint. Resume negotiations and end the suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n US-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have largely stalled after Donald Trump\u2019s focus moved to his own war in Iran.<\/p>\n But Ukraine\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to grab Trump\u2019s attention again by asking the US for more ammunition to counter Russian ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n In a letter earlier this week<\/a> addressed to Trump and the US Congress, Zelenskyy said this would be a \u201cvital tool of protection against Russian terror\u201d.<\/p>\n Putin is also said to be going<\/a> \u201cbackwards on the battlefield\u201d and struggling to keep up with his war of attrition, according the head of the UK intelligence agency GCHQ, Anna Keast-Butler.<\/p>\n She noted almost 500,000\u00a0Russian<\/a>\u00a0soldiers have been killed since the war began, a shocking stat which backs up Putin\u2019s reputation for \u201cmeat grinder\u201d tactics.<\/a><\/p>\n