Russian media identifies over 80,000 soldiers killed in Ukraine

BBC News Russian, together with the Russian media outlet Mediazona and volunteers, has identified the names of 80,973 Russian soldiers killed during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Source: BBC News Russian

Details: The analysis was conducted using open data, such as funeral photos, information about those killed in action on local government websites, news items, posts by relatives or in other sources if they are accompanied by photos of the burial, etc.

The media have concluded that there has been a rapid increase in casualties among Russians who signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Many of them are killed within 2-4 weeks of being sent to the front, some within a few days.

"Their share in the total number of casualties continues to grow and now accounts for 22% of the total number of confirmed Russian losses. A year ago, in November 2023, volunteers accounted for only 14% of the total number of losses.

The proportion of convicts sent to the front from prison is, on the contrary, decreasing. In November 2023, they accounted for 26% of all casualties, and now they make up only 18%. However, units formed from convicts are still on the front line and take on part of the combat load," BBC News Russian writes.

The Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Tatarstan and Sverdlovsk Oblast, which are all parts of the Russian Federation, are now the leaders in terms of the number of confirmed losses. 

Russia’s Sverdlovsk Oblast appeared on this list after the start of conscription and mass recruitment to the front from penal colonies, as the region has many industrial facilities and a number of large penal colonies.

"Tatarstan is among the three regions with the highest number of confirmed losses in 2024. This is primarily due to the active work of local volunteers who collect data on the deceased. Acquaintances and relatives of the soldiers send and publish information about the dead in local communities, often reporting cases that were not publicised by local authorities," BBC News Russian notes.

Journalists noted that, in this regard, the number of dead soldiers from Tatarstan revealed by them might be as close as possible to the actual number of people killed who came from this republic.

Nevertheless, the data for other regions is much less complete, as there are no such active volunteers there, and local authorities often pressure journalists and relatives of the killed, urging them not to "post about the losses" again.

In terms of per capita casualties, the Republic of Tyva, the Republic of Buryatia and Altai Krai are leading the way, with the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg having the lowest rates. 

"Our calculations show that a man from Tyva is nine times more likely to die in the war than a resident of Moscow. At least 52% of all those killed are people who were not associated with the Russian army at the outbreak of the war," BBC News Russian writes.

The journalists noted that the actual number of Russians who joined the armed forces without any previous military experience and who have been killed at the front is much higher, as analysts have not been able to determine exactly how 28% of the dead they identified reached the battlefield.

But because the obituaries of most of them are accompanied by photographs of men in civilian clothes, journalists assume that they may have been drafted or voluntarily signed contracts.

Background:

• Earlier, The New York Times reported that Russia continues to suffer huge losses in its war of aggression against Ukraine. For example, in October, the number of dead and wounded soldiers was the highest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Nonetheless, the journalists stressed that the Russian forces could hardly be described as depleted, as in the first half of 2024, Russia managed to conscript about 900 people daily.
• As of the morning of 29 November, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine estimated Russian losses at 738,000 killed and wounded.
• In November, The Economist wrote that Ukraine may have lost 60,000 to 100,000 soldiers in the nearly three years of Russia's full-scale invasion, and that another 400,000 soldiers may have been seriously wounded. 
• In February 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during Russia's full-scale invasion. 

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