Russian casualties in Ukraine.
Mediazona count, updated

On February 17, the Russian army completed its assault and captured the town of Avdiivka in Donetsk region of Ukraine. From the very beginning of this operation on October 10, it was evident that the losses suffered by the Russian armed forces had significantly increased. A month later, we are unable to fully assess the losses in this battle, as the process of calculating casualties using open sources takes considerably more time. However, the situation with the number of daily obituaries closely resembles what was observed during the Bakhmut offensive. On some days, hundreds of obituaries are published. Even in this report, we have not accounted for all the casualties, as the volume of information far exceeds the capacity of our volunteers to process it.

Furthermore, Russian army units are once again sustaining losses from long-range strikes by HIMARS missiles, with military personnel dying en masse during formations in open fields. At least two such incidents have been confirmed, resulting in the deaths of not only rank-and-file soldiers but also high-ranking officers. For instance, on February 20, Colonel Guseyn Musayev and several dozen of his subordinates from the 36th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade were killed at a training ground near Volnovakha.

The full-scale war has entered its third year, and in addition to the numbers from the obituary count, we have added an overall estimate of casualties calculated based on probate records. This number will also be updated regularly, but due to the methodology, we can estimate Russian losses with a 2–3 month lag. You can read about the methodology and takeaways from the first two years of the war here.

We have also made changes to the overall layout and design of our infographics, introduced improvements in the mobile version of this page, added search functionality to the high-ranking officers list, and made our data downloadable as .csv files.

Currently, we are exploring ways to enhance the troop type classification. When we began the count in April 2022, the Russian army fighting in Ukraine consisted primarily of contract soldiers who could be categorized by army branch. By mid-2022, volunteers and inmates were recruited to fight in the war, and in the autumn, Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilisation.” We could not ignore these groups (in fact, for many months they have topped the casualty count) and included them in the army branch statistics. Our next step will be to separate the social distribution from the troops where soldiers actually served.

What we know about the casualties

The distribution of casualties across Russian regions is presented in absolute figures, these numbers have not been adjusted in relation to regional population sizes or the concentration of military units.

Readers can view either overall losses or those specific to different branches of the armed forces. Additionally, there is information regarding the native regions of the mobilised soldiers.

In most cases, the branch of service or the way the deceased ended up in the army (mobilized, volunteer, inmate, etc.) can be determined from the death reports or indirectly, through uniform or sleeve patches in photos.

We compared these groups of military personnel in a separate chart to provide a clearer picture of the distribution of casualties among different categories of soldiers.

Since the summer, volunteer units bore the brunt of casualties, a stark contrast to the war’s initial phase. During the winter and early spring, the heaviest losses were sustained by the Airborne Forces, followed by the Motorised Rifle Troops.

By the end of 2022 and entering the new year, there was a marked increase in fatalities among prisoners conscripted into the Wagner PMC. These conscripts were formed into “assault groups” for offensives against Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut.

By March 2023, these prisoners represented the largest single category of losses in the conflict. Following the assault on Bakhmut, there have been no reported instances of mass deployment of these prisoner units.

As of January 19, the confirmed death toll among Russian army officers and other security forces exceeded 3,200, with 381 of these officers being of Lieutenant Colonel rank or higher.

Officers killed in Ukraine

As of today, official confirmation has been received regarding the deaths of two deputy army commanders: Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky of the 41st Army, and Major General Vladimir Frolov of the 8th Army.

In late May 2022, retired Major General Kanamat Botashev, 63, a former fighter pilot, was killed, presumably having volunteered for combat. Additionally, Captain 1st Rank Andrei Paliy, the deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, was also reported among the casualties. On June 5, 2022, the death of Major General Roman Kutuzov was reported.

In June 2023, the death of Major General Sergei Goryachev was announced. He served as the chief of staff for the 35th Combined Arms Army, responsible for confronting the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia region.

By July 2023, the death of the first Lieutenant General, Oleg Tsokov, deputy commander of the Southern Military District, was confirmed.

In November 2023, Major General Vladimir Zavadsky was killed. He served as the deputy commander of the 14th Army Corps.

Over 35,100 reports specify the dates of military personnel deaths. While the daily loss figures derived from this data may not accurately reflect the total casualties, they provide an indication of the intensity of the fighting on specific days.

It is important to note that the most recent data is likely to be incomplete and subject to significant revisions in the future.

In 37,700 of the casualty reports, the ages of the deceased are mentioned. In the initial six months of the conflict, characterized by the deployment of regular military forces without the inclusion of volunteers, mobilised troops, or prisoners, the most significant number of fatalities occurred in the 21–23 age group.

The age profile diverges notably for volunteers and mobilised soldiers. Those who volunteer for combat service are predominantly in the age bracket of 30–35 years or older. The mobilised personnel are generally over the age of 25.