Over 239,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation
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Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 239,354 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.
The latest count covers confirmed military deaths from Feb. 24, 2022, through Aug. 13, 2026.
Among the identified dead are 87,749 volunteers, 26,416 recruited prisoners, and 19,778 mobilized soldiers. A total of 7,530 officers have also been confirmed killed.
The actual figure of deaths is likely significantly higher, as verification is a painstakingly slow process, drawing from sources such as obituaries, social media posts from relatives, local media posts, and statements from local authorities.
Mediazona attributed the reporting lag in part to the increased use of drones and the military changing tactics towards small-unit infiltration attempts, which can result in bodies of the dead being unrecovered for long periods of time, and delayed identification and official death records.
According to the outlets, the date of death is known in 221,500 cases, accounting for 93% of confirmed casualties.
While casualty estimates have varied, independent Western assessments have consistently concluded that Russian losses significantly exceed Ukrainian casualties.
On July 31, President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed estimates revealing that Russian forces had suffered around 1.6 million military casualties since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, including approximately 700,000 killed.
Zelensky added that around 50,000 Ukrainian service members had been killed and approximately 400,000 wounded.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces estimates that as of Aug. 17, Russia has lost around 1,467,320 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 22, 2022. The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured.
The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify the reporting.
