Mediazona confirms identities of over 50,400 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine

The dead bodies of two Russian soldiers lie on the grass in front of a house in the liberated village of Makiivka in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk Oblast. Photo for illustrative purposes. (Laurel Chor/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Through open-source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 50,471 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Since Mediazona’s last update in late March, the names of 1,190 Russian soldiers have been added to the list of casualties.

The journalists specify that the actual figures are likely considerably higher since the information they have verified so far comes from public sources, including obituaries, posts by relatives, regional media news, and local authorities’ reports. The media outlets estimated the true figure likely surpasses 100,000.

Mediazone also adds that their Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) analyst teams tracking military equipment losses have observed significant depletion in Russia’s inventory of tanks, APCs, BMPs, and artillery in recent weeks.

Since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine, over 3,300 officers, with 390 holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher, have been killed in combat in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in February 2024 that 180,000 Russians had been killed in the war. He added that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers were also killed. Zelensky said that the exact number is unknown, and it would only be possible to find out once the territories occupied by Russia were liberated.