Russian losses in Ukraine

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Neighbors from hell — How one Oleshky family survived living next to Russian soldiers

For years, the Samarsky family lived in the embattled, occupied Oleshky alongside neighbors no one wished to have — Russian soldiers. Serhii Samarsky, his wife Olha Liutikova, and their son Vladyslav remained in the town after Russian forces occupied it during the early stages of its full-scale invasion until October 2026, when a humanitarian mission, mediated by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, allowed them to be evacuated. Together, they survived relentless air attacks, cold winters without he

Vladyslav Samarsky at the Ukraine-Belarus border in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Oct. 31, 2026.

About Russian losses

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russian military losses. Ukraine's General Staff publishes daily reports on Russian military casualties, equipment destruction, and material losses since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Independent verification of casualty figures remains challenging due to the ongoing nature of the war, though open-source intelligence analysts and Western defense officials provide periodic assessments of Russian losses.

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