The BBC Russian service and news outlet Mediazona have jointly confirmed the identities of approximately 45,000 Russian soldiers who have perished in Ukraine since the invasion commenced in February 2022.
The matter of military casualties remains profoundly delicate in both nations. Russia has enforced a ban on criticizing the conflict, and official casualty figures have not been disclosed since 2022.
According to the report, “The BBC, in collaboration with Mediazona… and a dedicated team of volunteers, has successfully identified the names of 45,123 Russian military personnel who lost their lives in the Ukrainian war since February 2022.”
The investigation relied on publicly available sources such as obituaries, cautioning that the actual number of casualties could be twice as high.
“Of the identified deceased, two-thirds had no prior affiliation with the military before the invasion: they were volunteers, conscripts, captives, or recruits of private companies,” stated BBC Russian.
Following over a year of protracted trench warfare that yielded no territorial advancements for either Moscow or Kyiv, the Kremlin is intensifying its troop deployments to the front lines.
President Vladimir Putin seldom acknowledges setbacks on the battlefield, portraying the nearly two-year-long conflict as a struggle for Russia’s survival in an effort to galvanize patriotism.
Ukraine similarly keeps its military losses and casualties under wraps, though analysts estimate that they reach into the tens of thousands after two years of relentless combat.
