Through open source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 39,424 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Since Mediazona's last update on Dec. 1, the names of 1,163 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties.
The journalists specify that the actual figures are likely considerably higher since the information they have verified so far comes from public sources, including obituaries, posts by relatives, news in regional media, and reports by local authorities.
Since Russia's full-scare invasion began, over 2,900 officers, with 337 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher have been killed in combat in Ukraine. In contrast, there have been nearly 4,800 casualties among newly recruited Russian soldiers.
To date, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, Russia's deputy commander of the Southern Military District, is the highest-ranking Russian military official to have been killed during the war.
A majority of those killed in action come from Krasnodar, Sverdlovsk, Bashkiria, Chelyabinsk, and Moscow regions, as well as the Buryatia republic.
Total estimates of Russia's casualties since the full-scale invasion vary widely.
The New York Times reported in August, citing U.S. officials, that Russian military casualties approached 300,000. Those numbers included around 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injured.
Alexander Khrebet
(Updated: )
