1503 "Rusland doodt zo veel mogelijk burgers" schrijven onze media. Niet waar !

In de Oekraïne oorlog vallen 30 maal minder burgerdoden ( in relatie tot het aantal soldaten dat sneuvelt) dan in de (eveneens pre-emptive ) oorlog tegen Irak, die door de VS is gestart.

30 x !!

Maar over de Yanks nooit een bericht dat ze burgers viseerden.

Over Rusland lees je het elke week, terwijl overduidelijk is dat Putin nu juist zijn best doet om burgerdoden te voorkomen.

Ik las zelfs dat Oekraïnse burgers niet blij zijn met Patriots, want dat afweer-geschut zorgt nu juist voor doden onder de burgers: de raketten en shrapnel komen niet op de munitie-fabriek, maar in de woonwijk.

 

Ik vroeg Copilot om de cijfers:

 

Hello Copilot, in war there is a statistic that shows how many civilians were killend in proportion to the number of combattants. Do you have this statistic for the (2022-now) Russia versus Ukraine war ? Or probably: do you have quotes of some institutions who give their idea of this statistic ?

You're tapping into a deeply important and complex aspect of war analysis. While there isn’t a universally agreed-upon civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio for the Russia–Ukraine war, several institutions have provided estimates that help paint a picture of the human cost.

🧮 Civilian vs. Combatant Casualties (2022–2025)

Here are some key figures from reputable sources:

• United Nations OHCHR: Verified over 12,600 civilian deaths in Ukraine as of January 2025.
• ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project): Reports over 7,200 civilian deaths from Feb 2022 to March 2024, with 6,700 attributed to Russian forces.
• International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): Estimates 172,000 Russian soldiers killed and 611,000 wounded between Feb 2022 and Jan 2025.
• Ukrainian sources (via Defense Express): Estimate 789,550 Russian personnel losses, though this includes wounded and disabled.
• Ukrainian military fatalities: Estimated at 17,223 as of early 2023.

📊 Civilian-to-Combatant Ratio (Approximate)

If we take the UN’s verified civilian deaths (~12,600) and compare them to IISS’s Russian fatalities (172,000) and Ukrainian fatalities (17,223), we get:

• Total combatant deaths: ~189,000
• Civilian deaths: ~12,600
• Ratio: Roughly 1 civilian death for every 15 combatant deaths

This is a lower civilian-to-combatant ratio than in many past conflicts, possibly due to the nature of modern warfare, evacuation efforts, and urban defense strategies. However, this ratio doesn’t account for indirect deaths (e.g. from displacement, lack of medical care, or infrastructure collapse), which are harder to quantify.

🗣️ Institutional Perspectives

• ACLED emphasizes that 84% of civilian fatalities occurred near frontlines, often involving vulnerable populations who couldn’t evacuate.
• Statista and OHCHR provide monthly breakdowns of civilian casualties, showing spikes during major offensives.
• The Loop (ECPR) highlights how both Russian and Ukrainian sources tend to underreport their own losses and overreport enemy losses, complicating accurate ratio estimates.

Would you like to explore how this ratio compares to other conflicts, like Iraq or Syria? Or dive deeper into how these numbers are gathered and verified?

Yes, could you compare it to the war in Libya and the war in Iraq and in Syria ?

Absolutely — comparing civilian-to-combatant casualty ratios across conflicts can reveal a lot about the nature of warfare and its impact on societies. Here's how the Russia–Ukraine war stacks up against Libya, Iraq, and Syria:

⚖️ Civilian-to-Combatant Casualty Ratios Across Conflicts

Conflict	Civilian Deaths (Est.)	Combatant Deaths (Est.)	Civilian % of Total Deaths	Civilian-to-Combatant Ratio
Russia–Ukraine (2022–2025)	~12,600	~189,000	~6%	~1:15
Libya (2012–2017)	~16,126	Not precisely known	Unknown	Unknown
Iraq War (2003–2019)	~308,000	~150,000–200,000	~67%	~2:1
Syria War (2011–2024)	~306,000–230,0005	~250,000–300,000	~50–55%	~1:1

🧠 Key Takeaways

• Russia–Ukraine has a notably low civilian-to-combatant ratio (~1:15), suggesting that most fatalities are among soldiers. This may reflect more conventional battlefield engagements and evacuation efforts.
• Iraq and Syria show much higher civilian proportions — in Iraq, civilians made up two-thirds of all deaths, while in Syria, estimates range from 50% to 55%5. These wars involved urban combat, sectarian violence, and widespread infrastructure collapse.
• Libya presents a challenge: while over 16,000 civilian deaths were documented between 2012 and 2017, reliable combatant death figures are scarce, making ratio estimates difficult.

🧨 Why the Differences?

• Urban warfare: In Syria and Iraq, fighting in cities led to higher civilian casualties. Research shows urban combat is up to 8 times more deadly for civilians.
• Tactics & weaponry: Use of airstrikes, chemical weapons, and indiscriminate shelling in Syria and Iraq contributed to high civilian tolls.
• Documentation: Ukraine benefits from more transparent reporting and international monitoring, while Libya and Syria faced data gaps due to chaos and repression.

Would you like to explore how these ratios evolved over time or how international law views these casualty patterns?

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How have civilian-to-combatant ratios changed over time?How does international law view civilian casualties in war?What impact do these ratios have on public perception of war?