To what extent were civilians targeted in the conflict/war in Donbass in 2014-2022?

Question

The conflict/war in the Donbass (the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine in which pro-Russian separatists have declared independence) has cost several thousands of civilian lives from 2014 to 2022.

However, reports on various kinds of casualties seem to conflict among sources, and of course there is the question of intent vs. "collateral" damage. I have also heard several allegations of intentional targeting of residential areas in Donetsk and perhaps elsewhere by the Ukrainian military, several years back (perhaps in 2014).

To what extent / in what ways did the parties in that conflict actually target civilians, over the years?

Note: I'm asking about the period between 2014 and the Russian invasion of Feb 2022.

Answer 1

You can use this long post about the state of monitoring since 2014 (press translate)

Highlights include:

The 2016 report states that from 1 January to 31 December, the SMM documented 442 civilian casualties in the conflict zone — 88 civilian deaths (22 women, 58 men, one girl under 2 years of age, five boys and two adults whose gender has not been determined) and 354 wounded. Most of the cases (281 out of 442) occurred in the DPR and LPR.

Local residents of settlements on both sides of the contact line told OSCE members that they often saw mobile firing positions in their residential areas (so close that they could see flashes from the use of weapons):

One of the first notable incidents is bombing of Lugansk city hall on Jun 2, 2014. An air strike by two Ukrainian military planes left 8 dead, 28 wounded.