The estimated number of people killed in eastern Ukraine since the start of the conflict in April last year has surpassed 6,000 for the first time, the United Nations human rights office said.
The escalation in fighting since the start of 2015 has resulted in heavy casualties with the civilian population trapped in areas controlled by armed groups suffering the most.
The release of the report coincides with a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva today.
The discussions are expected to be dominated by the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the fatal shooting of the Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov Moscow on Friday.
Mr Kerry is expected to press Mr Lavrov to ensure that Moscow carries out a credible investigation into the assassination of Mr Nemtsov.
The two men briefly shook hands for the cameras, but the atmosphere was tense and they did not make any statements.
The meeting comes only days after Mr Kerry accused Russian officials of lying "to my face" about Moscow's involvement in the Ukraine conflict, which has triggered the worst post-Cold War crisis between the US and its European allies, and Russia.
A senior State Department official told reporters travelling with Mr Kerry that he had been referring to "the Russian propaganda machine."
What Moscow says is happening in Ukraine "doesn't correspond to the facts on the ground," the official said.
Weeks of heavy fighting, particularly around Donetsk airport and the Debaltseve area cost hundreds of lives, the UN report said, with vulnerable groups including women, children and the elderly particularly affected.
Public institutions have been badly damaged in the fighting, with power outages and shortage of supplies affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
More than 400,000 people have been left without power, heating, water and food in various settlements of the conflict for more than a month.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 15 February with a drop in violence and moves by both sides to withdraw heavy weapons from the front line raising hopes that it could hold.
But Ukraine's military said yesterday that it thought pro-Russian rebels were using the truce to regroup for new attacks on government positions.
UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called on all sides to respect a fragile peace deal, and "halt the indiscriminate shelling and other hostilities that have created a dreadful situation for civilians."
Mr Kerry is expected to warn Mr Lavrov that the US and EU are already working on another round of sanctions if Moscow does not adhere to the new ceasefire deal, US officials said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's military said today that one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and four wounded in separatist eastern territories in the past 24 hours,underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire deal.
Nonetheless, Ukraine reported a sharp drop in attacks from pro-Russian separatists over the weekend and said it was continuing to pull back heavy weapons from the front line.
But it warned that rebels were using the truce to regroup for new attacks on government positions.
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