Russian losses in the war with Ukraine.
Mediazona count, updated

On December 4, during a roundtable discussion in the State Duma, Deputy Defense Minister and Putin’s niece Anna Tsivileva reported that 48,000 relatives had submitted DNA samples to search for soldiers missing in action.

General Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Duma’s Defence Committee, requested that these figures not be disclosed elsewhere, calling the information “closed” and “sensitive.” Although Kartapolov stated that the number Tsivileva provided represented those “missing without a trace,” Putin’s niece clarified that it referred to “the number of requests, not missing persons.” “Many of them will be found”, Tsivileva added.

It’s very difficult to draw any conclusions from Tsivileva’s words. We don’t know whether the requests span the entire period since the start of the war—in which case many of the missing may have been found, dead or alive—or if they solely represent current enquiries regarding the search for MIA soldiers.

While researching the Probate Registry to confirm individual deaths and estimate overall losses, Mediazona learned that death certificates for soldiers killed in Ukraine are typically issued with a delay of several days, potentially due to difficulties in evacuating bodies or bureaucratic complexities. However, for those initially reported missing and later found, the lag can reach dozens or even hundreds of days. The maximum delay between the date of death and its registration currently stands at 772 days: Petr Smirnov from Tatarstan’s Laishevsky district died in March 2022, yet his death certificate was only issued in April 2024.

Cases with delays exceeding a year remain infrequent, but the deaths of nearly 5,000 men have been registered with a delay of 40 days or more. Another indirect indicator that a person was missing and subsequently found is when a death certificate is issued by a registry office in the Rostov region—the main hub for unidentified bodies—even though the deceased was from another region. Mediazona is aware of 683 such cases.

While these figures cannot provide a precise count of Russian soldiers missing in action, they highlight the overloaded system tasked with identifying the dead. The number of requests Tsivileva mentioned likely includes both missing persons whose bodies have never been recovered and those killed in recent battles whose remains have not yet been evacuated or were evacuated with significant delays.

What we know about losses

Here’s how the losses are distributed across Russian regions. These are absolute numbers, not adjusted for population or number of military units.

On the map, you can choose between total losses and losses by military branch, as well as see where the deceased mobilised soldiers were from.

In most cases, from death reports or indirect signs (uniform or sleeve patches in photos), it’s possible to determine which branch of the military the deceased served in, or how they joined the army (mobilised, volunteer, prisoner, etc.)

We compared these groups of servicemen on a separate graph.

From early summer, volunteers bore the brunt of the losses, which is strikingly different from the situation in the initial stage of the war: in winter and early spring, the Airborne Forces suffered the greatest damage, followed by the Motorised Rifle troops.

By the end of 2022 and the beginning of the next year, losses among prisoners recruited into the Wagner PMC increased markedly. They were formed into “assault groups” to overwhelm Ukrainian positions near Bakhmut.

By March 2023, prisoners became the largest category of war losses. After the capture of Bakhmut, there have been no cases of mass use of prisoners so far.

By September 2024, volunteers once again emerged as the largest category among the KIA. This shift reflects a cumulative effect: prison recruitment had significantly waned, no new mobilisation had been announced, yet the stream of volunteers continued unabated.

By December 6, the death of over 4,400 officers of the Russian army and other security structures had been confirmed.

Officers killed in Ukraine

To date, reports of the deaths of two deputy army commanders have been officially confirmed—Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky of the 41st Army and Major General Vladimir Frolov of the 8th Army.

On May 22, 2022, fighter pilot, 63-year-old retired Major General Kanamat Botashev died; most likely, he went to war as a volunteer. The deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Captain 1st Rank Andrei Paliy, was also killed. On June 5, 2022, the death of Major General Roman Kutuzov was reported.

In June 2023, Major General Sergei Goryachev was killed. He was the chief of staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army and commanded the repulsion of the Ukrainian counterattack in the Zaporizhzhia region.

In July 2023, the death of the first Lieutenant General was confirmed—Oleg Tsokov, deputy commander of the Southern Military District.

In November 2023, Major General Vladimir Zavadsky was killed. He was the deputy commander of the 14th Army Corps.

In November 2024, Major General Pavlo Klimenko, commander of the 5th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade (former DPR ‘Oplot’ Brigade), died. According to the pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel Spy’s Dossier, he was fatally wounded on November 6: Klimenko was attacked by an FPV drone while riding a motorbike between command posts.

The date of death of servicemen is specified in 62,600 reports. The number of losses per day according to this data hardly reflects the real picture, but it allows us to assume on which days the battles were the most intense.

It should always be taken into account that the data of the last few weeks is the most incomplete and may change significantly in the future.

Age is mentioned in 69,000 reports. In the first six months of the war, when the regular army participated in the invasion without volunteers, mobilised soldiers, and prisoners, most deaths were in the 21–23 age group.

Volunteers and mobilised soldiers are significantly older: people voluntarily go to war at 30–35 years or older, and the mobilised are generally over 25.