Russian soldiers in the Kursk region. Photo: Press service of the Russian Ministry of Defence / AP
Last year, Russia suffered the largest losses among its military since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine – at least 45,287 killed. This is reported by the BBC, citing data from open sources collected in cooperation with Mediazona and a team of volunteers.
This figure is almost three times higher than the losses of the Russian Federation in 2022 (17,890 people) and significantly higher than in 2023, when the bloodiest battles for Bakhmut and Vuhledar were taking place.
“Russia lost an average of 27 soldiers for every square kilometre of captured Ukrainian territory,” BBC journalists calculated.
According to the data, the bloodiest day for the Russian Federation was 20 February 2024, when 201 servicemen were killed in an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a training centre in Volnovakha, 65 of them as a result of direct hits from HIMARS missiles.
In total, journalists have identified the names of over 106,000 Russian military personnel killed, but the actual numbers may be much higher. Analysts believe that only 45% to 65% of all losses have been publicly recorded.
In 2024, unlike in previous years, there was no period of significant decrease in the intensity of deaths – Russian losses only increased. At the same time, the front line remained almost static, despite Russia’s seizure of about 4,168 km² of Ukrainian territory.
The BBC also notes that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu did not mention the losses near Volnovakha during his report to Putin on the same day.
