Through open source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 44,654 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 in early February, the names of 1,194 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.
In the past two weeks, 15 military personnel with ranks from Lieutenant Colonel and higher have been added to the list.
Since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine, over 3,100 officers, with 379 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher have been killed in combat in Ukraine. In contrast, there have been nearly 5,354 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 Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Bashkiria, Chelyabinsk, as well as the Buryatia republic.
Total estimates of Russia's casualties since the full-scale invasion vary widely. Senior U.S. defense officials estimate that about 315,000 Russian troops had either been killed or injured so far in the war.
As of Feb. 18, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces says that Russia lost 402,430 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
