War

General Staff: Russia has lost 1,489,640 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022

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General Staff: Russia has lost 1,489,640 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Ukrainian soldiers of 43rd Brigade are seen working on a Soviet era Pion self propelled howitzer in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine on January 27, 2025. (Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Russia has lost around 1,489,640 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 Aug. 31.

The figure includes 1,440 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

According to the report, Russia has also lost 12,320 tanks, 25,257 armored combat vehicles, 142,332 vehicles and fuel tanks, 48,954 artillery systems, 2,079 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,597 air defense systems, 440 aircraft, 354 helicopters, 2,452 unmanned ground systems, 35 ships and boats, and two submarines.

Ukraine's General Staff has not revealed its own losses during the full-scale invasion, citing operational secrecy.

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).

While Ukrainian officials rarely disclose the figure, 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 a lot more missing in action (MIAs).

The intensity of Russian drones and the fighting has made it extremely difficult for Ukraine to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers, which are needed for DNA confirmation.

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The Kyiv Independent news desk

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