As of today, our named list contains more than 163,600 confirmed Russian military deaths, almost 7,500 more than in our previous update of December 19. Volunteers account for the largest share, about 54,000 men, followed by nearly 20,000 prisoners and 16,600 mobilised soldiers.
Mediazona, working with the BBC’s Russian service and a team of volunteers, has been compiling and maintaining a named list of the Russian military dead. The list is built from publicly available, verifiable sources, such as social media posts by relatives, reports in local media, and statements from regional authorities. Of course, this list is not exhaustive, as not every death is publicly reported.
To build a more complete picture of the war’s true toll, we have developed an estimate based on excess male mortality, using data from the national Probate Registry. This statistical method, created in collaboration with Meduza, helps to account for the limitations of relying solely on publicly reported deaths.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) — report/brief commonly referenced as “Russia’s Grinding War in Ukraine” (published Jan 27, 2026). Multiple outlets summarizing the CSIS estimates report:
Up to ~1.8 million combined military casualties, potentially nearing 2 million by spring 2026
~1.2 million Russian casualties, including ~325,000 killed
~500k–600k Ukrainian casualties, with up to ~140,000 deaths
That CSIS brief is also where the “2025 alone ~415,000 Russian killed/wounded” figure is being cited widely right now.
Russia lost 1,2 million men and Ukraine 600,000 men.
Where are you pulling that number from?
As of today, our named list contains more than 163,600 confirmed Russian military deaths, almost 7,500 more than in our previous update of December 19. Volunteers account for the largest share, about 54,000 men, followed by nearly 20,000 prisoners and 16,600 mobilised soldiers.
Mediazona, working with the BBC’s Russian service and a team of volunteers, has been compiling and maintaining a named list of the Russian military dead. The list is built from publicly available, verifiable sources, such as social media posts by relatives, reports in local media, and statements from regional authorities. Of course, this list is not exhaustive, as not every death is publicly reported.
To build a more complete picture of the war’s true toll, we have developed an estimate based on excess male mortality, using data from the national Probate Registry. This statistical method, created in collaboration with Meduza, helps to account for the limitations of relying solely on publicly reported deaths.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) — report/brief commonly referenced as “Russia’s Grinding War in Ukraine” (published Jan 27, 2026). Multiple outlets summarizing the CSIS estimates report:
Up to ~1.8 million combined military casualties, potentially nearing 2 million by spring 2026
~1.2 million Russian casualties, including ~325,000 killed
~500k–600k Ukrainian casualties, with up to ~140,000 deaths
That CSIS brief is also where the “2025 alone ~415,000 Russian killed/wounded” figure is being cited widely right now.
«1,500,000 about which a huge question mark can be placed.»
— Russian military expert Maksim Klimov pretends to wonder what happened to 1.5 million Russian soldiers.
https://www.threads.com/@natalkakyiv/post/DUAQNUGjqg3?xmt=AQF06VMzSCFJgT7_unrGXVYwcBwi1rpb-3ikgdBXwLu9z1l9cOrGHVWJakbd94zyXSW0sS-9&slof=1
So... Western sources...