Leaked documents from the US Department of Defense suggest that Russian battlefield casualties in Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 are between 462,000 and 728,000.
Citing the leaked documents British newspaper The Economist stated that the highest number of deaths was observed among people aged 35 to 39, with approximately 27,000 reported fatalities between February 2022 and June 2024.
Meanwhile, in terms of the percentage of the Russian male population, the largest losses occurred among the 45-49 age group. The most recent data indicates that around 2% of Russian men aged 20 to 50 have been killed or seriously wounded in Ukraine since February 2022.
The documents also estimate that for every Russian soldier that is killed in action there are 3-4 soldiers wounded.
Mediazona and Meduza, two independent Russian media outlets, indicate that the number of Russian dead has exceeded 100,000, with figures as of June 21 ranging from 106,000 to 140,000. A significant portion of their analysis is based on inheritance records and obituaries on social media and other sources.
An intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence in June 2024 stated that the total number of Russian casualties since the start of the war in February 2022 had likely reached 500,000, adding that Russian losses have continued at a high level in 2024, and in May average Russian personnel casualties were over 1,200 per day – the highest reported since the start of the war.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the losses of the Russian forces since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine have already reached about 550,000 killed and wounded, along with 8155 tanks and armoured fighting vehicles destroyed or captured.
On 25 February 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that around 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war.
