Humanitarian — 2026-09-09

Ukraine Records Highest Cluster Munition Casualties Globally for Fourth Consecutive Year With 927 Dead or Injured in 2025

BLUFUkraine will very likely remain the world's top cluster munition casualty site through the next reporting cycle, as expanded production, North Korean transfers, and shrinking clearance funding entrench the threat to civilians.

Cluster munitions killed or injured at least 1,063 people globally in 2025, among the highest annual totals recorded, according to the Cluster Munition Monitor 2026 report released by the Cluster Munition Coalition 12. Ukraine recorded 927 casualties, the highest country total for the fourth straight year; fresh attacks caused 946 of the 1,063 global casualties and remnants caused 117 2. Reuters reported the Monitor's finding that cluster munitions have caused more than 1,200 civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia's February 2022 invasion, with both sides continuing use, particularly Russia 3. Civilians made up 87 percent of recorded casualties across nine countries, and the report cited continued or new use by Iran, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine, evidence of production in nine countries including Israel, and North Korea's transfer of the weapons to Russia, ahead of the treaty's Third Review Conference in Vientiane, Laos on September 14-18 12.

Analysis
Continued use by both belligerents, expanded production across nine states, and North Korean transfers to Russia mean Ukraine will very likely retain the top casualty ranking into the next reporting cycle, though the Vientiane review conference's condemnations bind only treaty signatories and cannot compel either side to halt use. The record 927 figure extends a four-year trend rather than marking a new inflection, and may partly reflect improved Ukrainian monitoring capacity rather than a proportional rise in actual munition use. The Cluster Munition Monitor report anchors the figures as the sole originating source, with wire coverage from Reuters, AP and The National converging on identical topline numbers without independent verification. Whether treaty states commit fresh clearance and survivor-support funding at Vientiane will determine whether mine-action operators can restore capacity lost to the 2025 US assistance freeze or whether remnant-driven casualties, already 117 of the 1,063 global total, keep accumulating into 2027.
5 sources
  1. Cluster Munitions: Ban Treaty Under Pressure - Human Rights Watch
  2. Wars in Ukraine and Middle East Fuel Casualties From Cluster Munitions - The National
  3. Cluster munitions cause more than 1,200 civilian casualties in Ukraine war, global monitor says - Reuters (via Investing.com)
  4. Cluster Bomb Casualties Near Record, Driven by War in Ukraine - U.S. News & World Report (AP)
  5. Cluster Munition Monitor 2026 - International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC) / The Monitor

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