At least 1,611 civilians have lost their lives in Ukraine while 2,227 have been injured since Russia began its "special military operation" in the neighboring country on Feb. 24, the UN said on Thursday.

"Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes," the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its daily update.

It added that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.

Meanwhile, according to the UN refugee agency, more than 4.3 million have fled Ukraine.

Neighboring Poland has taken in more than 2.5 million people from Ukraine, while nearly 663,000 have gone to Romania, more than 404,000 to Hungary, over 401,000 to Moldova, and around 305,000 to Slovakia.

According to the International Organization for Migration, over 7.1 million people have also been internally displaced since the war began./aa