War

General Staff: Russia has lost 1,286,940 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022

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General Staff: Russia has lost 1,286,940 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Soldiers of the sound-ranging reconnaissance platoon of Ukraine's 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade operate acoustic equipment used to detect and locate enemy artillery positions on March 3, 2026 in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Anna Zubenko/Frontliner/Getty Images)

Russia has lost around 1,286,940 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on March 21.

The number includes 1,240 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,790 tanks, 24,262 armored combat vehicles, 84,518 vehicles and fuel tanks, 38,608 artillery systems, 1,691 multiple launch rocket systems, and 1,333 air defense systems, 435 aircraft, 350 helicopters, 188,985 drones, 33 ships and boats, and two submarines.

Ukraine's General Staff doesn't reveal its own losses during the full-scale invasion, citing operational secrecy.

While Ukrainian officials rarely disclose figures, President Volodymyr Zelensky told France TV on Feb. 4 that at least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action since the beginning of the full-scale war, in addition to many more classified as missing in action (MIA). The intensity of Russian drones and fighting has made it difficult for Ukraine to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers, which are needed for DNA confirmation.

Independent Western think-tank reports agree that the Russian casualties significantly surpass Ukraine’s losses, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimating the ratio to be "roughly 2.5:1 or 2:1."

A January 2026 CSIS report said Ukraine has likely suffered between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties from February 2022 to December 2025, of which between 100,000 to 140,000 are thought to be killed in action (KIA).

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