A total of 2,593 people — including civilians as well as Ukrainian and separatist combatants — have died in clashes in eastern Ukraine since mid-April, a senior U.N. human rights official said on Friday. "The trend is clear and alarming. There is a significant increase in the death toll in the east," the U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights said. He added that civilian casualties would continue to rise "as each side increases its strength, through mobilization, better organization or the deployment of new fighters and more sophisticated weapons and support from outside."
