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Over 118,000 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine identified by media, including 523 foreigners

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Over 118,000 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine identified by media, including 523 foreigners
Russian servicemen march towards Red Square for the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 7, 2025. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 118,139 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine, the BBC reported on July 11.

The media outlets' latest data covers the period from Feb. 24, 2022, to July 11, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of June, 2,282 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.

The journalists noted 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, and statements from local authorities.

Moscow and Kyiv rarely officially report their losses, and the Kyiv Independent could not verify the figures. Ukraine estimates that Russia's overall casualties during the full-scale war have surpassed 1 million.

The investigation has identified 523 foreign nationals from 28 countries who were killed while serving in the Russian army, despite not holding Russian citizenship at the time they signed military contracts.

Among the killed are 54 Ukrainians, most of whom were prisoners from Russian-occupied territories.

The largest number of foreign casualties came from Tajikistan — 72 — and Uzbekistan — 66, with many recruited from Russian prisons. Most had signed contracts with the Wagner mercenary group, according to the investigation.

The journalists also managed to identify the killed citizens of Nepal and Georgia, mostly natives of Moscow-occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The list of those killed also includes an American, Michael Gloss, the son of a deputy director of the CIA, who signed a military contract in September 2023 and was killed in April 2024.

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Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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