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Over 109,600 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation

by Olena Goncharova May 26, 2025 8:01 AM 2 min read
This archival photo shows the bodies of Russian soldiers killed during a failed attempt to storm the Avdiivka flank in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, near a destroyed Russian tank on Dec. 23, 2023. (Kostya Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
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Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 109,625 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.

The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 23, 2025. Since it was last updated at the beginning of May, at least 2,009 Russian soldiers have been confirmed killed.

The journalists note that the actual figures are likely significantly higher, as their verified information comes from public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, memorial community tree-plantings, regional media reports, statements from local authorities, among other sources.

The outlet published the complete list of identified casualties for the first time in February, marking three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the publication, volunteers manually enter and verify each record to prevent duplicate entries in the database.

The confirmed death toll now includes 27,000 volunteers, 17,200 recruited prisoners, and over 12,000 mobilized soldiers, according to the media outlets. Over 5,000 officers have also been confirmed to have been killed.

Russian troops have recently intensity their offensive in Donetsk Oblast, increasingly pressuring a relatively large Ukrainian pocket between some of the last cities in the region. Russia has held the initiative on the battlefield in the Donetsk Oblast since the fall of 2023, after Ukraine's failed summer counteroffensive.

Russia pushes forward in Donetsk Oblast, threatening Ukrainian pocket around Toretsk
Russian troops have upped the intensity of their Donetsk Oblast offensive in recent weeks, increasingly pressuring a relatively large Ukrainian pocket between some of the last cities in the region. An unsettling situation for Ukrainian troops is now unfolding south of the town of Kostiantynivka, which has long served as

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