UN: Russian forces have killed 700 civilians including 52 children in Ukraine since three weeks. However, UN says that the actual number is much higher.

UN political affairs chief Rosemary Di Carlo informed the UN Security Council that Russian forces have attacked civilian areas with explosive weapons. It has a wide scale of impact. Hundreds of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed, he said.

She has also informed that the UN human rights agency has estimated 726 deaths including 52 children and 1174 people injured including 63 children, between Feb 24 and March 15.

"The magnitude of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine cannot be denied. This demands a thorough investigation and accountability," she said.

The World Health Organization has verified 43 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine that have killed 12 people and injured dozens more, including health workers, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the Security Council, NDTV reported.

"In any conflict, attacks on healthcare are a violation of international humanitarian law," Tedros told the council, without specifying who was to blame.

The Security Council is due to vote on Friday on a Russian-drafted call for aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine, but diplomats say the measure is set to fail because it does not push for an end to the fighting or withdrawal of Russian troops.

"We think it is wrong," Albania's UN Ambassador Ferit Hoxha told the Security Council on Thursday. "Russia cannot shoot first and then come disguised as a doctor."

French UN Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said any support for Russia's draft resolution would be giving Moscow the green light to continue its war.