Media analyse deaths of Russian soldiers: 40% of them died in 2023

Almost half of those [Russian soldiers – ed.] mobilised, whose names were established by the Russian BBC service, died in 2023.

Source: Russian BBC

Details: Based on open sources, the publication established the names of 1,082 mobilised Russians who died in the war in Ukraine. Considering that mobilisation began at the end of September 2022, all these people died in just four months of fighting.

From the middle of December, a sharp increase in the daily losses of the Russian military became noticeable. Throughout 2022, Russian sources typically reported around 250-300 deaths each week.

Currently, it is possible to confirm at least 600 names every week, and an average of 700 people every week since the end of January. And this is only the data that the journalists managed  to find and check according to open sources.

Quote: "Forty per cent of Russian conscripts whose deaths have been confirmed have died since 1 January [2023 – ed.]. The actual casualties among conscripts may be much higher, as many reports of soldiers killed in Ukraine since October do not specify their status. Due to this, it is sometimes impossible to understand whether a person served as a contract worker, went to the front as a volunteer, or was mobilised.

At the same time, in the last 3 months, approximately 70% of all obituaries of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine are accompanied by photos of people in ordinary clothes, not in military uniforms. This may be an indirect indication of the growing losses of those who until recently were civilians."

Details: The BBC says it knows of 49 conscripts who died on Russian soil while in collection points or in military units. Most often, the cause of death was health problems or delayed provision of medical care.

Suicide was the cause of death for eight people. At least six soldiers died as a result of training accidents or road accidents.

The first reports of combat losses of the mobilised began to arrive at the beginning of October 2022; that is, less than two weeks after the start of mobilisation.

The publication notes that before going to the front, the first units of the mobilised had from three to seven days to prepare. For comparison, Soviet conscript soldiers were trained for four to six months before being sent to Afghanistan.

Quote: "Many of those who found themselves on the front lines in October-November described roughly the same picture: they were sent to the front without being given clear instructions and without explanations on where they were. There were not enough supplies; an attack would begin, people ran everywhere, the commander disappeared or died. As a result, disorganised units began to act chaotically and split into groups, which often died or were captured.

The mobilised units that arrived at the front later – in November or December 2022 – were already more united and usually better equipped. But another problem arose. It turned out that often such units were trained in one specialty, for example as artillerymen, and at the front they were transferred to infantry. As a result, the mobilised were once again unprepared on the front lines."

Background: 

• Russia has likely suffered its heaviest losses since the first week of its invasion of Ukraine over the past two weeks.

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