Over 242,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation

Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 242,747 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.

Since the media outlets' last update in mid-August, the names of 3,393 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties. The latest count covers confirmed military deaths from Feb. 24, 2022, through Aug. 27, 2026.

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, regional media reports, and statements from local authorities.

The confirmed death toll now includes over 88,600 volunteers, 26,600 recruited prisoners, and 20,000 mobilized soldiers, according to the media outlets. A total of 7,596 officers have also been confirmed to have been killed.

According to the outlets, the date of death is known in 225,000 cases, accounting for nearly 93% of confirmed casualties.

The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify the reporting.

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. 30, Russia has lost around 1,486,600 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.

According to Western intelligence, throughout 2026, Russia's Armed Forces has fallen short of reaching its recruitment target of 30,000 soldiers per month, losing more soldiers than they are recruiting on a monthly bases — leading the Kremlin to consider additional rounds of mobilization.

Ukraine's President's Office said on Aug. 27 that Russia plans to mobilize 600,000 recruits in 2026-27 as growing public dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine reduces the number of people willing to volunteer.

Meanwhile Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanov warned on Aug. 28 that Ukraine cannot afford to mobilize less than 30,000 people per month, as ending the war in the short term is "unrealistic."

As Mediazona continues to compile and maintain a list of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war, the Kremlin added Mediazona to its "foreign agents" list for a second time, the outlet reported on Aug. 21.