Russia notices portrayal of its invaders changed since beginning of war
The Russian media have analysed the available data on those killed at the front lines in Ukraine and concluded that the average Russian soldier's portrayal has changed in less than 16 months of the war in Ukraine.
Source: Russian service of BBC News
Details: The BBC, together with Mediaphone (a media agency declared a foreign agent in Russia) and a team of volunteers, have managed to confirm the names of over 25,000 Russians who have been killed since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This list is incomplete and is only based on open sources of information (reports of Russian officials; media publications; posts by close relatives of the Russian military on social media; data from gravestones, and information from some cemeteries).
Having confirmed over 25,000 burials of Russian soldiers killed since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the BBC has drawn up a portrait of the "average Russian soldier at the front".
Whereas in the first three months of the war, a typical casualty was a professional contract soldier in his twenties, a regular Russian trooper killed in Ukraine in recent months has been a 34-year-old convict sent to the front from a penal colony.
The BBC cites two examples: Sergeant Nikita Loburets, 21, a Russian special forces unit commander, was killed near Kharkiv on 20 May 2022, and Alexander Zubkov, 34, who was sentenced to 9 years for attempted drug trafficking, joined the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) and was killed near the city of Bakhmut in 2023.
While Loburets was a relatively promising contract soldier, Zubkov was convicted twice. The latter went to Ukraine in November 2022, hoping to be released and receive a salary of RUB 100,000 [roughly US$1,190] a month but was killed five months later near Bakhmut. Zubkov was buried on 28 April in Severodvinsk, Russia.
Losses by categories:
- Officers: 792
- Total casualties since the beginning of the war
- Private and non-commissioned officers (contract servicemen): 2279
- Military volunteers: 280
- Wagnerites: 22
- Conscripts: 0
- Convicts: 0
Russia lost lots of professional military personnel in the first three months of the war
Losses by categories:
- Officers: 148
- Total casualties since the beginning of the war
- Private and non-commissioned officers (contract servicemen): 398
- Military volunteers: 484
- Wagnerites: 752
- Conscripts: 780
- Convicts: 1,236
However, a growing number of unprofessional combatants have been killed in the last three months.
Categories for the thousands of others who have been killed are unknown. Analysis by BBC and MediaZone data
In general, Russia lost more professional military personnel at the beginning of the war, with more non-professional ones killed in recent months.
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