Some 47,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the start of the war in Ukraine. Russia itself doesn’t reveal much about the dead soldiers, but new research offers insight.
Independent Russian media Mediazone and Meduza took the reins to find out how many Russians were killed. Russia withholds this information. Mediazone and Meduza worked with a data analyst from the German University of Tübingen.
Medizon and Meduza estimated that more men under the age of 50 than usual died between February 2022 and May 2023, based on official excess mortality and inheritance data.
Both Russia and Ukraine reported little on military casualties. The Kremlin has only mentioned an official death toll several times. In September 2022, Russia reported more than six thousand deaths.
I’ve been guessing ever since. Russia has banned publication of casualty figures out of “respect” for the dead soldiers, but also because it would be a state secret.
In February, the British Ministry of Defense said that between 40,000 and 60,000 Russians were likely killed in the war.
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