Over 107,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation
Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 107,620 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.
The publications' latest report covers the period of February 24, 2022 to May 8, 2025. Since it was last updated at the end of April, 2,857 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
The journalists note that the actual figures are likely significantly higher, as their verified information comes from public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, memorial community tree-plantings, regional media reports, statements from local authorities, among other sources.
The media outlet publicly the full list of named casualties for the first time in February, commemorating the third-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the outlets, volunteers manually input and verify data to ensure there are no duplicates in the database.
The confirmed death toll now includes 26,600 volunteers, 17,100 recruited prisoners, and nearly 12,000 mobilized soldiers, according to the media outlets. Over 5,000 officers have also been confirmed to have been killed.
Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine and Kursk Oblast in recent months but at the cost of heavy casualties as well as equipment losses.
On Feb. 24, independent Russian media outlets Meduza and Mediazona in a report that around 165,000 Russian troops have been killed since the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including nearly 100,000 in 2024.
President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Feb. 15 that Moscow had lost around 250,000 soldiers, with 20,000 killed in battles for Russia's Kursk Oblast alone.
Moscow does not disclose its casualty figures, though a Defense Ministry official let slip in December that the department received 48,000 requests to identify missing soldiers.
In an interview with NBC published on Feb. 16, Zelensky said over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 380,000 injured on the battlefield.
As of April 11, Russia has lost a total of 965,890 troops since the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine's General Staff . The estimate, which is broadly in-line with estimates made by Western intelligence agencies, likely includes those killed, captured, wounded, and missing.
As ongoing efforts to establish a ceasefire persist, said on May 11 he will travel to Istanbul for peace talks on May 15 in response to Putin rejecting a ceasefire proposal and instead suggesting peace talks between Ukraine and Russia should continue.
Ukraine has insisted on a full 30-day unconditional ceasefire before peace talks begin.
Read also: Most Russians 'don't care about the war,' says journalist Ekaterina Barabash after escaping Russia
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
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