Leaked Russian Records Suggest More Than 450,000 Deaths in Ukraine War

More than 450,000 people fighting on Russia’s side in the war against Ukraine may have died since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, according to data allegedly obtained from Russia’s state statistics agency, Rosstat.

The figures were released by hacking groups Belarusian Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow, which claim to have accessed confidential government records containing more than 11 million death certificates and related information.

According to the Belarusian Cyber Partisans, 393,881 deaths were linked to the war between February 24, 2022, and late August 2026. The group based its calculation on death certificates containing references to military operations or their consequences.

Silent Crow, however, reported a higher figure of 450,100 deaths using a broader methodology. Its calculation also included non-combat deaths among military personnel, deaths recorded in occupied Ukrainian territories and other cases considered potentially connected to the conflict.

The alleged records reportedly contain information on the deceased, including their ages, residential locations and places of death.

The findings offer a rare insight into the human cost of Russia’s military campaign, particularly as President Vladimir Putin’s government has largely avoided publishing comprehensive figures on its battlefield losses.

Russia last officially disclosed military casualty figures in September 2022, when Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed.

However, the latest figures remain unverified. Rosstat has denied that its databases were compromised, while independent journalists and researchers are examining the material released by the hacking groups.

The Moscow Times reported that it cross-checked a sample of 50 names from an existing database compiled by BBC Russian and Mediazona against the leaked records but could not independently authenticate the entire dataset.

The BBC and Mediazona had identified 285,881 Russian military deaths by November 6, although their investigation also acknowledges that the actual number is likely higher.

The leaked figures do not include all wounded soldiers, missing personnel or foreign fighters whose deaths may not have been registered in Russia’s civil records.

The development comes as the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, continues to exact a heavy human cost on both sides, with no comprehensive settlement in sight.