An independent assessment possibly underestimated.
The Russian website Mediazona and the BBC's Russian service said they had identified around 45,000 Russian soldiers killed since the start of the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, in a joint investigation published on Wednesday.
The count, which runs from February 24, 2022 to February 20, 2024, is not intended to be exhaustive, but the two media say they have identified 45,123 Russian soldiers killed by exploiting freely accessible sources such as death notices, press releases from local authorities, obituaries published in the media or on social networks.
Military losses are kept secret in Russia, as in Ukraine.
And the media point out that the real toll is certainly much heavier.
It could be twice as high, suggests the BBC Russian service.
Mobilized, volunteers or prisoners
According to this source, “two thirds of the dead had no connection with the army before the invasion”.
These are therefore mobilized soldiers, volunteers, fighters from private military companies or prisoners who had joined combat units in exchange for an amnesty.
The last official Russian report dates back to September 2022, when Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu admitted the deaths of 5,937 Russian soldiers.
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Last August, the New York Times, citing American officials, estimated Russian military losses at 120,000 dead.
On January 29, in a written response to a parliamentarian, British Defense Minister James Heappey estimated Russian losses at more than 350,000 dead and wounded.
In 2023, BBC Russian said it observed an increase in weekly Russian military losses starting last October, when Moscow's forces launched a major offensive to seize Avdiivka, the town captured last week. after four months of fighting.