BBC Russia reports that at least 543 Russian soldiers and private military contractors were killed in Syria between 2015 and 2024. To identify the active-duty Russian soldiers who died in Syria, journalists used news publications and posts on social networks, as well as data from cemeteries and military memorials.
The list also includes the names of 346 mercenaries hired by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin. The BBC confirmed the deaths of these men based on open sources and internal company documents leaked to multiple media outlets between 2016 and 2022.
According to the BBC’s findings, Russia’s losses in Syria include members of the Special Operations Forces, the Federal Security Service, and the foreign military intelligence agency, as well as several combat pilots.
Journalists note that the actual death toll of Russian fighters in Syria could be higher.
In the spring of 2019, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that 116 Russian servicemen had died in Syria. The military has not commented since on its casualties in Syria.