Based on open data, the BBC Russian Service, together with the Mediazona outlet and a team of volunteers, from January 10 to 24, identified the names of 90,019 Russian servicemen who had been killed in action since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is reported by the BBC, Ukrinform saw.
Some 23% of all those killed, that is, almost every fourth, is a Russian who signed a contract after the war began.
Journalists note that, for comparison, as if November 2023, volunteers accounted for only 14% of the total number of fatalities.
The report states that the average age of those killed in 2024, according to updates, was 36 years, which is higher than in the first two years of the war. More than half of the confirmed deaths are those who were not part of the Russian army or the Russian Guard when the war just started; 17% of all known deaths are convicts released from penal facilities, and 12% are mobilized men.
It is also noted that in 2025, a chase for new volunteers continues across regions as the average amount of monetary bonuses is approaching 2 million rubles. In particular, this week, a new increase in payments was reported in Yamal, Mari El, and Primorsky Area. The leader in payments is Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan. The republic has been leading among all regions of the Russian Federation since September in the number of confirmed losses, namely at least 3,932 residents of Bashkortostan died in the war against Ukraine. But journalists note that the real number of deaths is higher, because these are only those whose names could be confirmed through open sources. At the same time, eight out of 10 KIAs had gone to the front from rural areas or cities with a population of less than 100 thousand people.
Also, 17% of confirmed deaths are career military, that is, those who had been serving in the army at the time of the invasion; 4,641 of all the dead are officers, including nine generals and 500 ranking as lieutenant colonels or above.
Journalists emphasize that the real fatality toll is obviously much higher than can be established through open sources. This is explained by the fact that the bodies of a significant number of soldiers who died in recent months may still remain on the battlefield. Retrieving them poses risk to the lives of survivors as they may be hit by drones.
Taking into account the latest estimates, the real number of deaths on the Russian side may range from 138,500 to 200,000, the report notes.
“The number of losses on the Russian side increases significantly if we include in the list those who fought against Ukraine as part of the “LPR/DPR,” the journalists write, noting that since December 22, 2022, the ‘DPR’ separatists have stopped publishing data on the fatalities while the “LPR” militants have never published such reports at all.
“Having studied the published obituaries and reports on the search for missing LPR soldiers who have not been in contact for a long time, we came to the conclusion that as of late September 2024, some 21,000 to 23,500 people could have died,” the report says.
The journalists state that, based on the data they have collected, it can be assumed that the total number of combat deaths on the part of pro-Russian forces could range from 159,500 to 223,500.
Researchers compile lists of the dead, focusing on reports from open sources: the media, statements by heads of Russian regions, local administrations, posts by families on social media, posts from educational facilities where the soldiers had studied, and data from cemeteries. The estimates do not take into account the death toll in the self-proclaimed republics of the “LPR-DPR”, but if a Russian citizen voluntarily went to war and joined the armies of these republics, they are taken into account.
As Ukrinform reported, referring to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia’s casualty toll in Ukraine is now estimated at 825,320, including 1,340 killed or wounded in the past day alone.
Source: Journalists identify over 90,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine war
