Records attributed to Russia’s state statistics agency suggest nearly 400,000 deaths have been linked to the war against Ukraine, though the figures have not been independently verified in full. (Foto: Instagram)
Records attributed to Russia’s state statistics agency, Rosstat, suggest that nearly 400,000 Russian deaths have been connected to the war against Ukraine since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Two hacking groups said they broke into the agency’s systems and accessed millions of documents, including death certificates. The figures have not been independently verified in full and are not an official count of Russian military deaths.
The findings were attributed to Cyber Partisans, a group linked to the Belarusian opposition, and Ukraine’s Silent Crow. Cyber Partisans said at least 393,000 death certificates registered through the end of August 2026 explicitly referred to the war or military operations. Silent Crow estimated about 450,000 deaths, using broader criteria that included soldiers killed outside combat, in occupied territories, and in other circumstances related to the conflict.
Russia has not released detailed information about its military losses, which the government treats as classified. Rosstat confirmed that its systems were hit by cyberattacks between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1, but denied that protected information had been taken and said it was investigating. The Guardian, which also obtained the material, reported that the documents contain more than 11 million death certificates, including information on age, residence, and circumstances of death. The newspaper said it could not verify the entire database, though experts considered the material consistent with other available estimates.
Janis Kluge, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs consulted by the Guardian, said the actual number of Russian military deaths could be closer to 500,000. Missing soldiers, unidentified bodies, and delays in official death registrations complicate efforts to count the dead, he said.
Other estimates also point to substantial losses. In July, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. research institute, estimated that about 450,000 Russian military personnel had been killed since the invasion began. The total number of Russian casualties—including those killed, wounded, or missing—could reach 1.4 million, the institute estimated. A joint investigation by the BBC and the independent Russian outlet Mediazona identified about 285,800 Russian service members killed by name. The project’s researchers described that figure as a conservative count because it includes only deaths confirmed through public sources. For Ukraine, the CSIS estimated that killed, wounded, and missing personnel could total 625,000, including as many as 150,000 deaths. The estimates cover different periods and use different methods, limiting direct comparisons.
The records also suggest that deaths have been unevenly distributed across Russia. Poorer areas far from major cities, particularly in Siberia, appear to have higher proportions of war-related deaths. In Buryatia, Tuva, and the Zabaykalsky region in eastern Russia, conflict-related deaths accounted for about one-third of deaths among men ages 18 to 49 from the start of the invasion through mid-2024. The share was close to 10% in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The data also showed that monthly war-related deaths exceeded 15,000 in some months in late 2024 and during 2025, according to the Guardian’s analysis.
The figures were released amid expectations that Russia and Ukraine would resume U.S.-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi. The delegations were expected to discuss ways to end the conflict, with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also expected to take part. Possible topics included postwar security guarantees, reducing hostilities, and humanitarian issues. Russia and Ukraine remained engaged in military combat, with no final agreement to end the war that began in February 2022.
