KIEV, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The civilian death toll in the conflict in eastern Ukraine has surpassed 3,000, the United Nations (UN) Office in Ukraine said in a statement Wednesday.
According to the statement, over 9,000 civilians have been injured since the crisis broke out in the region in April 2014.
Millions of Ukrainians living near the 450-km-long "contact line," which separates the conflicting forces, are regularly exposed to sniper and small-arms fire, shelling and the risks related to landmines and other unexploded ordnance, the statement said.
Earlier in the day, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said it has recorded 12 conflict-related civilian deaths and 93 injuries between May 16 and Aug. 15 this year.
Overall, the confrontation between government troops and pro-independence armed groups in eastern Ukraine has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people, including civilians and combatants on both sides, and left some 24,000 others injured.
