A female victim met her demise in Energodar following a drone strike on her vehicle.
The Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine has been hit by a wave of civilian casualties and attacks over the past few weeks, according to regional governor Yevhen Balitskyi and various reports.
On July 30, a children's playground in Vasylivka was struck by artillery fire, injuring a boy born in 2018 and a girl born in 2016. Three days later, on July 31, a drone attack in the region hit a civilian car, killing three people, including a 14-year-old child.
These incidents are part of a larger trend. On July 28, Russian forces reportedly struck Bilenkivska Penal Colony No. 99, a prison about 25 km from the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, killing 16 prisoners and injuring nearly 100. The attack on a civilian object violated international humanitarian law, as prisoners are considered civilians and prisons are civilian objects unless used for military purposes.
Around the same time, Russian forces also struck near a hospital in Kamianske city, Dnipropetrovsk region (near Zaporizhzhia), damaging the hospital and its maternity ward. This caused three civilian deaths—including a seven-month pregnant woman—and injured 22 people, many of them medical staff.
The UN reported at least 120 civilian casualties in a single night across seven regions including Zaporizhzhia on the night of 1-2 August 2025. Exact civilian casualties specifically in Zaporizhzhia during that wave were among the confirmed, though detailed numbers for the region were not isolated in the report.
Prior to these, between 5 and 11 July 2025, Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes reportedly killed at least four civilians in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia.
Governor Balitskyi warned that the risk of further strikes remains in the Zaporizhzhia region. The UN continues to urge a return to diplomacy and respect for international humanitarian law to prevent further civilian harm. All injured individuals are receiving necessary medical assistance.
On August 2, a woman was killed and a man injured when a Ukrainian drone crashed into a civilian car in Enerhodar. The use of drones and long-range missiles has caused multiple fatalities and injuries among civilians through late July and early August 2025.
[1] HRMMU Report: Attacks on civilian objects in Ukraine violate international humanitarian law [2] UN Report: Over 120 civilian casualties in a single night across seven regions in Ukraine [3] Amnesty International Report: Attacks on hospitals and prisons in Ukraine [4] BBC News: Civilian casualties soar in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine [5] HRMMU Report: Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes kill at least four civilians in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia
- The escalating violence in the Zaporizhzhia region, as evident from the HRMMU Report, Amnesty International Report, UN Report, and BBC News, involves not only battles but also attacks on civilian objects such as hospitals and prisons, which are protected under international humanitarian law.
- Beyond the war-and-conflicts reported in the general-news, the Zaporizhzhia region has been marred by crime-and-justice issues, with incidents like drone attacks hitting civilian vehicles and civilian objects like prisons, as well as attacks on hospitals, causing numerous casualties.
