Over 2500 killed since start of Ukrainian crisis

At least 2,593 people were killed in eastern Ukraine since fighting flared up in mid-April, a senior UN official said here on Friday.
"At the beginning of the conflict an average of 11 people were being killed every day and in the recent time the figure rose to 36 people killed per day," UN assistant secretary-general for human rights Ivan Simonovic told a press conference here.
The death toll includes Ukrainian civilian and combatant casualties, but did not cover the 298 dead from the July 17 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, Simonovic said.
The UN official has voiced his concern over the deaths of refugees, who were targeted and killed when trying to leave the war-torn areas over the humanitarian corridors established by the Ukrainian forces.
Simonovic has called on both sides of the conflict to refrain from violence, saying that increased strength through mobilization and organization or the deployment of new fighters will only increase the number of casualties.
The recent report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission pointed to serious human rights violations in the restive regions, informing that the armed groups of insurgents continue to murder and torture people.
The document also said that there have also been reports of human rights violations, such as arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and torture, committed by the Ukrainian territorial and special battalions.
Simonovic would begin a seven-day visit to Ukraine on Thursday, which will also take him to eastern Ukraine to assess the human rights situation there, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.