By Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian Service, has reported that an estimated 66,471 Russian military personnel have died in the ongoing war in Ukraine. This figure, released on Saturday, is based on an extensive analysis of open-source data and represents a significant increase from their previous estimate of 50,000 deaths reported in April.
Mediazona emphasized that this count is not definitive, as many soldiers’ deaths are not made public. The investigation relies on a meticulous compilation of known soldier deaths using various open-source information channels.
Anastasia Alekseyeva, a journalist at Mediazona, noted that the latest death toll increase of more than 4,600 in the past four weeks is not directly linked to recent military activities. “These numbers are not linked to Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region or Russia’s advance in the east,” Alekseyeva explained, citing a backlog in processing death reports.
The investigation revealed several notable findings. A total of 172 conscripts performing national service have been killed in the war, with the highest figures reported in the early months of the conflict. The southern republic of Bashkortostan, with a large Muslim population, has suffered the largest absolute number of deaths at 2,578. The most represented age group among the deceased is 33-35 years old, accounting for 6,877 deaths.
Over 12,000 of the dead were prisoners recruited by Russia with promises of freedom after serving on the front lines. However, Alekseyeva noted a recent decline in these numbers, suggesting that “evidently the recruitment drive is not as active.”
Mediazona editor Dmitry Treshchanin cautioned that the figures for conscript deaths might be inexact, as some conscripts may have signed professional army contracts without informing their relatives.
The investigation’s methodology involves counting deaths since February 2022 using official reports, media accounts, and satellite imagery of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
These figures stand in stark contrast to official Russian statements. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that almost 700,000 Russian soldiers were fighting in Ukraine. The Russian defense ministry’s last official casualty report in September 2022 acknowledged only 5,937 combat deaths.
The Russian government continues to classify its military operation in Ukraine as a “special military operation” and rarely discusses casualty figures.
For comparison, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in February that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the first two years of the war.
As the conflict continues, these independent investigations provide crucial insights into the human cost of the war, challenging official narratives and shedding light on the scale of losses experienced by Russian forces in Ukraine.
