The BBC and its partners have calculated the estimated number of Russian soldiers lost in the war in Ukraine, based on open data. According to final estimates, the actual number of Russian casualties may be between 107,864 and 155,804. At the beginning of the war, mostly soldiers died with an average age of 21, but now volunteers in their 40s, 50s and even 70s make up the majority of casualties.

BBC, together with "Mediazona" and a group of volunteers, identified the names of more than 70,000 Russian soldiers who died in the war in Ukraine, based on open data. Every fifth person who died was a person who decided to sign a contract with the Russian army or the Red Guards after the start of the war.

Thousands of obituaries show how the image of the average Russian soldier who died throughout the war changed.

The average soldier whose death was confirmed by the BBC in 2022 was 21 years old and served under contract in elite units such as the Special Forces, Air Force or Marines . B today is 40 , Men in their 50s and even 60s are being sent to the front without any combat experience or special training.

From civilian life to the front

At the moment, the largest number of Russian military victims are among volunteers. These soldiers are very different from professional soldiers: before the war, they worked for many years in the civilian sector and went through three to ten days of training before being sent to the front.

Studies have found that at least 13,781 volunteers died in the war. This is 20% of the confirmed losses on the Russian side. As of September 2024, volunteer losses exceeded those of other categories of combatants, including prisoners (19% of all identified deaths) and conscripts (13%).

Volunteers between the ages of 42 and 50 are the most common casualties of war today, accounting for 30 percent of all deaths in this age group. The oldest volunteer who died was 71 years old, and a total of 250 volunteers over the age of 60 died in the war.

From April 2022, volunteer units began to play an important role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the first months of the invasion, the military command began to recruit surviving paratroopers and special forces, using them for holding positions and sniper operations.

At the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, the most difficult fronts of the front began to be covered by detachments of prisoners. However, by the beginning of 2024, the number of these units has decreased.

According to published obituaries , the recruitment of volunteers is the main method of replenishing the ranks of the Russian military currently stationed in Ukraine.

The Russian army continues to use the tactics of the " Wagner " group - a wave- like attack is organized with the help of small attack groups in different directions. This method leads to heavy losses among soldiers , but it exhausts the enemy and reduces the defense power of Ukrainian artillery.

Officers killed

Since the start of the war, Russia has lost 4,104 officers in Ukraine, including 7 generals and lieutenant colonels , and 458 others of higher rank.

Among the dead officers are 1142 officers of the elite forces (Airborne Forces , Marine Corps, Special Forces, Special Units of the Russian Guard, as well as military pilots).

Taking into account the above calculations, the actual number of Russian casualties may be between 107,864 and 155,804.

If the list includes those who fought against Ukraine as part of the units of the self-proclaimed independent people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk , the total number of losses on the Russian side will increase significantly.

The BBC has investigated published obituaries and reports of a search for long-lost LDNR members. by the end of September this year, 21,000 - 23,500 people may die .

Based on the information collected , the total number of casualties by pro-Russian forces is estimated to be between 129,000 and 180,000 military personnel.

In addition to the dead, there are also the seriously wounded (discharged due to injury) and missing in action. It is difficult to determine even an approximate number of these categories based on open data because they are rarely reported. The most conservative estimate of the number of seriously injured people was made by Mediazona and Meduza based on 2022 compensation payments for injuries.

Given these data, the ratio of seriously wounded to dead could be at least 1.7-2 to 1, meaning two more seriously wounded, irreparably damaged servicemen for every dead. On the Russian side, the total ratio of wounded to dead may be 4 wounded for every dead.

Thus, the number of irreparable losses on the Russian side, taking into account the seriously wounded, can be from 387 to 540 thousand people.