Journalists confirm the deaths of nearly 20,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine
Journalists with Mediazona and BBC News Russian, working alongside a team of volunteers, have identified 19,688 Russian military service members killed during Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine.
Mediazona writes that in the two-week period from March 24 to April 7, the list of confirmed Russian losses in Ukraine grew by 1,665 names, a record since the war began. However, in this case the rise in confirmed deaths may be related to tallying methods rather than to the situation at the front — journalists recently processed a large number of records, which had been accumulating since early 2023.
As of April 7, Mediazona had confirmed the deaths of 1,783 mobilized draftees, up from 1,450 in mid-March.
The journalists also confirmed the deaths of nine high-ranking officers in the past two weeks. Since the start of the full-scale war, they have confirmed the deaths of more than 2,000 Russian officers.
Russia’s Defense Ministry last released an official tally of losses in September 2022, when the ministry said 5,937 Russian soldiers had died. The U.S. estimates about 100,000 people have been killed and wounded on each side. Ukraine says Russian losses reach 177,000.
