Through open-source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 51,679 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 mid-April, the names of 1,208 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, regional media news, and local authorities' reports.
Since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine, over 3,400 officers, with 395 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher have been killed in combat in Ukraine.
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.
The analysts note that at least 10,500 Russian inmates have been killed on the frontline.
On Feb. 24, in a joint study with independent Russian media outlet Meduza, Mediazona reported that at least 83,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Russia's war, although total estimates of Russia's casualties since the full-scale invasion vary widely.
President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in February 2024 that 180,000 Russians had been killed in the war. He added that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have also been killed. Zelensky said that the exact number is unknown, and it would only be possible to find out once the territories occupied by Russia were liberated.
As of April 28, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces says that Russia has lost 466,150 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022 - a number referring to the total number of killed and wounded.
The number is seemingly in line with estimates from the U.K.'s Minister of State for the Armed Forces Leo Docherty who said on April 27 that the killed and wounded total approximately 450,000 Russian soldiers.
Alexander Khrebet
(Updated: )
